Meatless Monday: Cauliflower Side Dish

I tried this unique side dish the other day when I stumbled across this recipe on Turtles and Tails. The 3 main ingredients that caught my eye were: paprika, coconut oil, and cocoa...on cauliflower! I had to give this one a try...

Cocoa-toasted Cauliflower
(makes 6-8 servings)

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower
1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic (powder or fresh)
2 tbsp. melted coconut oil
 
Chop the cauliflower up into bite-sized pieces. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a separate bowl, combine the cocoa powder, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the coconut oil and mix well, until it forms a thin sauce. Toss with the cauliflower until the cauliflower is well coated. Spread the pieces onto a aluminum foil-lined cookie sheet, then place into oven for 25-30 minutes. Serve with something just as savory!

I think they kid of look like little brains. Funny thing is, cauliflower is good for the brain too!

To be honest, this wasn't as flavor-packed as I thought it was going to be. Next time I will double the amounts of seasoning, but for the sake of honoring the original recipe, I kept the amounts the same. Give it a try this way, or be bold and use extra cocoa and paprika!

You may have been surprised like I was when I first read the ingredients for this recipe- cocoa powder is not commonly used on vegetables. But, it worked quite well with the blandness of the cauliflower, I even made the leftovers extra crispy and ate them like popcorn!

Cocoa powder is rich in good-for-you antioxidants, even more so than the average glass of red wine! It is also good for your heart, helps prevent diabetes (in it's raw form), controls blood pressure, and- you'll especially like this! -helps to treat pms! I guess that's why we all crave it during that time of the month...now you have an excuse to binge on Godiva!

For this recipe, I'd also recommend using an extra rich, high grade cocoa powder to really bring out the flavor as much as possible. Use organic in every way possible, and I also wouldn't recommend substituting a different type of oil for the coconut oil, but if you must, butter would probably work well too, although it wouldn't be as healthy and low-fat.  

Now it's your turn to share your Meatless Monday recipe! Please link up any meat-free dish you'd like below. Link as many as you want! Grab a button and spread the word! Thanks for stopping by :)

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