By Sarah Condley

I was given a large head of cauliflower and wasn’t sure how I should fix it. As you know I’m not a vegetable lover and cauliflower certainly isn’t a vegetable I’m crazy about. I definitely don’t like it raw. I’ve had it steamed and can tolerate it if broccoli is mixed in with it. I’ve tried cooking it and making fake breadsticks with it — that was a lot of trouble and they didn’t taste anything like breadsticks, so never again.

I’d heard that roasting cauliflower gave it a great taste. So I got on the computer and searched for roasted cauliflower recipes. Since I’ve had really good luck with recipes from the Allrecipes magazine I was glad to find this recipe on their website, and I felt confident it would work out.

After rinsing the cauliflower, I cut it up into manageable pieces. Some were big, some were small. I put my baking mat on a rimmed cookie sheet, spread the cauliflower on the pan and then melted the butter. I used a small pastry brush to slather the butter on each piece of cauliflower. There was enough melted butter to coat each piece of cauliflower all over.

Then I just sprinkled salt and pepper over all of it. You can sprinkle heavy or you can go light — whatever your taste buds like. If you can’t have salt I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use Mrs. Dash instead of it and the pepper.

After the oven preheated I put the pan in the oven. After 30 minutes I opened the oven and the cauliflower was indeed turning a nice golden brown. I flipped each peace over and set the timer for 10 minutes. When it was finished roasting supper was ready.

I got everything on the table and Brad blessed the food. Brad loves vegetables, so he took a generous helping of the cauliflower. Since I don’t like vegetables I just took a small helping. As soon as Brad took a bite he said he thought it was really good. With my first bite I was very surprised that I really did like it. I spooned more on my plate and decided I nailed this simple recipe and I’ll be preparing it again. Not only did it taste yummy, it’s really good for you — except that part about the butter.

Cauliflower has very few calories but lots of protein, vitamin C, and other vitamins. Oh, just so you’ll know, because the head of cauliflower was so big there was enough left over for another meal, and it re-heated in the oven just fine. Now I’ve got another item on my Farmer’s Market shopping list.

If you haven’t visited our Farmer’s Market, I encourage you to go. Not only can you get some great local produce, meat, plants, coffee, and other items — you’ll most likely make some new friends. I hope to see you there.

Butter-Roasted Cauliflower

— 1 head cauliflower, cut into large florets

— 2 tablespoons butter, melted

— Salt and Ground Black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

Spread cauliflower onto prepared baking sheet. Brush each piece of cauliflower with melted butter. Season with salt and pepper.

Roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Flip cauliflower and continue roasting until tender and golden, about 10 minutes more.

Sarah Condley is an amateur baker and chef who is compiling a cookbook of her favorite recipes.