Oh that sounds great, Roarah! I did make a curried cauliflower and chickpea stew but I love a ginger curry.. especially with vegetables!

I like to cook (steam) a head of cauliflower & pour burnt butter over. Heat the butter until it is brown & pour it over. Season to taste. Easy, yummy but probably not low fat.

I like to boil and mash with butter and parsley...like mashed potatoes.

Also like it polonaise with buttered bread crumbs, with or without the chopped hard boiled eggs.

You could also make it au gratin.

all those sound great!!

I am especially looking for a main dish -- I am always looking for more veggie centric recipes. it can have meat but I like to keep veggies high in the ingredient list. Roarah's recipe was great because I can do with/without meat. I am thinking I could do an au gratin with salad for a nice warm lunch or light dinner.. you think?

My entire life, up until a few months ago, I've absolutely HATED . . . HATED . . . any form of cauliflower! And then my sweet DH talked me into (strong-armed, actually) substituting mashed cauliflower in place of mashed potatoes. Not bad! Roasted, sauteed, baked . . . still, no thanks. But, I've been experimenting with other dishes that originally call for mashed potatoes. My latest is faux latkes, which my good friend ( a rabbi) tells me is blasphemy (LOL) and needs to be made with shredded potatoes . . . but mashed cauliflower makes a nice and healthful substitute.

I typically roast cauliflower. Cut into florets,toss with a small amount of olive oil and lots of fresh pepper. Roast at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. One head of cauliflower usually requires 2 cookie sheets. There is also a recipe floating around for a cauliflower pizza crust for those of you avoiding gluten. I have not tried it-- maybe some others can comment.

I like it au gratin with fresh fennel bulbs.

Ah.. fennel..sounds lovely! I love fennel roasted with parmesan so I am sure it would be great in a gratin too. I do like roasted cauliflower but I haven't made the mashed or pizza crust (I'd be more likely to try this for quiche than pizza). Lots of great ideas! TY!

One summer my garden did exceptionally well with cauliflower so I actually have a stash of recipes. Mollie Katzen's vegetable chowder is a family favorite but it does call for a quart of milk. We love it curried, I typically do it with potatoes, peas, carrots and golden raisins in a red curry. NYTimes has a recipe for curried cauliflower flat bread, you basically get your spiced sauteed cauliflower done then fold it into a flat bread batter and cook. Another Moosewood recipe is cauliflower cheese pie which has a crust a potatoes, it can be a little bland in my opinion so I add stuff, like caramelized onion and greens maybe sun dried tomatoes. Cauliflower Mac and cheese is good. I also like to steam it then toss it with bread crumbs and parm and bake til golden. I recently did one recipe where you ground the cauliflower then used it as the basis for veggie patties, that was interesting. I ended up baking in muffin tins and they were nice to grab as a quick lunch all week.

Food52 did a best cauliflower recipe, you should check it for ideas.

Agree re: mashed or pureed. It's delicious.

Localeater, I saw a chowder recipe last night that looks really good-- I'll check out Molly's recipe too. I do need to keep the milk to a minimum but I saw a trick that should help-- they said over cook a portion of the cauliflower and keep some al dente. I am thinking the immersion blender could be the key to cutting back on the milk.

I keep looking at the cauliflower mac and cheese recipes but I think I am much more inclined to bake with bread crumbs and parmesan as you mentioned. It's just a bit more savory. I do something similar but I add OOVO, whole wheat penne, oregano and walnuts (love walnuts with parmesan and they are a great source of magnesium). I wanted something new but the more I think of this dish, the more it sounds perfect for a cold evening... and I have everything required.

I also have an irish cheddar and shallots so I may do a variation on au gratin or chowder as well. I am still making meals for a friend who broke her leg. If her boys eat cauliflower, they'll be able to share my experiments!

oooh, your WW pasta, oregano and walnuts sounds delish. Have you ever added capers to it? it seems like that might go well. My DS1 is unfortunately allergic to walnuts so they do not come into the house and we make do with pecans.

Your irish cheddar and shallots reminded me of a Cooking Light recipe for a mac and cheese I do love. It is topped with roasted butternut squash, rosemary, shallots and, optionally, crumbled bacon. It is an amazing flavor combination and I think it would be even better if half the pasta was subbed with cauliflower. It is a dish worthy of entertaining.

Ah well, I am sure you could substitute something else for the walnuts-- pecans, almonds or even pistachios could work but I don't know that they'd have the same "earthy" characteristics. Never added capers .. I've never been a big fan but I think the salty/briny addition would be good for this dish!

I adore the rosemary and shallot combo and I also happen to have fresh rosemary on hand.. so I am going to look up the cooking light recipe. I don't have butternut but I do have 2 sweet potatoes I need to use up.. think I could substitute? I think the flavor profiles and texture are similar.

I would definitely sub sweet potatoes for winter squash if that's what I had. I am a use what's on hand type of cook and it sounds like you are too!

FWIW, our latest favorite way w/ cauliflower is to toss the florets w/ extra virgin olive oil ,mixed w/ curry powder & salt, then roast - soooo yummy that there're never any leftovers. Super fast & easy & makes a great side dish.

I use approximately 3 Tbs. olive oil, 1/2 tsp. salt & 2-3 tsp. curry powder(Frontier brand) per head of cauliflower, mixing the oil & seasoning together before pouring over the veggies & tossing well to coat, then spreading in a single layer in an enamelled broiler pan or roasting pan, making sure to scrape out the bowl & drizzle every bit of seasoning over the veggies, then roast @ 425F for about 20-30 minutes, until it's soft & edges are brown.

Localeater-- yes, I am definitely a use-what's-on-hand cook! I am also an "adapt a recipe to what I like and have time for" kinda cook too. I'll shortcut and tweak recipes to a point they don't resemble their original selves! Anything goes as long as it tastes good!

Carolb.. love your dish too. It's similar to my stir fry.. though I have been using ras el hanout instead of curry. I will roast it next time because I do really enjoy the roasted flavor. This would easily serve as a main dish for me with either couscous or brown rice... especially if I added carrots and onions to the roasting pan. Or even chickpeas!

I am a little embarrassed to share that one of my go-to meals when I DO NOT want to cook is ramen noodles with cauliflower. I throw the cauliflower in as I bring the water to a boil.. that way it is a little past al dente when the ramen is done. I then generously sprinkle with curry powder. I am not proud of my use of packaged ramen but it is really good (and a wee bit healthier) with the addition of cauliflower and curry!

So many ideas. .I am not sure which I will do first!

Don't want you to have idea overload but your mention of chick peas sent me in a morracan direction. Chick peas, cauliflower, dried apricots, peas, carrots, onion in a tomato cumin coriander cinnamon broth over brown rice may be red lentils too cause I love them. Now I need lunch.

LOL.. i absolutely wanted new ideas so I welcome the overload. What I dont try this week, I'll surely try soon. I think the moroccan direction is perfect. I made a cauliflower chickpea curried stew last winter. It was great and oh so hearty-- but for some reason, I havent jumped to make it again. I think it was a little heavy. I love the idea of the moroccan flavors.. especially because I have a stock pile of ras el hanout (cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, tumeric, cloves, coriander, cumin, and not sure what else). Again, I have all the ingredients-- even dried apricots (thanks to a sample package from nuts.com!) and the fragrant moroccan flavors are sounding great right now.

I think this is going to be my first recipe. It is perfect for a cold day and I am already tasting it :)
Thanks so much for all the ideas and inspirations!!

Here's a great spring "recipe" for cauliflower-- it's too cold for this here right now but it's sure a favorite. A friend and I used to go to the farmer's market each week to purchase this-- until we decided to learn to make it ourselves.

Crunchy Pea Salad
A head of cauliflower cut into bite size florets
1/2 bag of frozen peas-- partially thawed just to remove any ice crystals. They'll thaw as the salad is assembled (fresh work great too)
2 scallions thinly sliced-- greens and whites
mayo
milk
garlic powder
salt and pepper
handful of chopped cashews

Combine cauliflower, scallions and peas in a ziplock bag. Make a light dressing of milk, mayo garlic and salt, pepper to taste. It should be runny vs thick. We like it very garlicky! Pour dressing in bag and toss to completely coat. Again, this should be a runny dressing-- it's a loose salad vs one that sticks together. Chill to let flavors meld for a few hours. Top with chopped cashews to serve.

It's really a bright salad for spring. I like to toss with lemon zest right before serving too.. and I often skip the cashews (even though they are a key element of this "crunchy" pea salad.

Roasted cauliflower is a staple at our house. I like to make cauliflower steaks, dressed with whatever I have in the kitchen, as well. I've linked one recipe from Food & Wine; they have another, but I can't link it. It shows up when you search "cauliflower steaks."

Cauliflower steaks at Food & Wine

I saw a video a few days ago for buffalo cauliflower on YouTube. like the buffalo chicken wings. maybe check it out. there are several videos for this recipe but here is one I like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9pjf3iATrk

Yum! Love Frank's Hot Sauce so this will be a fun treat for movie night..
Unfortunately, my cauliflower was covered with a spider's nest of musty mold. I tried to salvage some but without luck. I'll have to hit the market before trying these recipes.

Some ideas in this link:
Cauliflower

saw a recipe for cauliflower potato salad the other day and thought of this thread... made just like regular potato salad but uses blanched cauliflower rather than potatoes... something I definitely will try when it warms up outside!

I tried a new cauliflower recipe to me from Pioneer Woman. It was small florets stir fried and some green onions added, then drizzled with a bit of soy sauce, lime juice, and sriracha. It was quite tasty and quick.

I saw that one also, Tish.. definitely on the list to try.

Thanks again for all the many suggestions and recipes! I'll hit the market this weekend and start cycling through them!

I have a daughter with a milk intolerance, so I tried subbing original almond milk combined with a little corn starch to help thicken cauliflower soup. I used chicken broth as the soup base. It was delicious lightly whizzed with a stick blender so some was creamy and some was a bit chunky. I didn't miss the milk or cheese at all.