Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Coconut Oil / Butter

My son loves cauliflower, so I decided to adapt a recipe that I found on eatwell101.com last week that involved roasting a whole cauliflower. It appealed to me not only because it was nutritious, but also because it was very easy to make. You can also change up the types of herbs and spices that you use. The original recipe calls for butter, but I used coconut oil instead and it turned out just as yummy. It was soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Try this recipe out and let me know what you think!

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower
• Fresh / dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 juice from one lemon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock or bone broth, more or less, depending on the size of the cauliflower. I used bone broth, and was able to make a nutritious soup out of the stock afterwards!
• 1/3 cup melted butter or coconut oil
• Fresh cracked pepper
• Salt to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Cut and remove the bottom of the cauliflower, leaves and stem, but without breaking apart the head. Give it a quick rinse and pat dry.
2. Place the cauliflower in a pot and cover with stock/broth. Add fresh thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and simmer for 12 minutes.
3. Drain and transfer the cauliflower head in a cast iron skillet or any oven proof pan. Ladle a little of the cooking stock over the cauliflower then drizzle with melted butter / coconut oil on top. Sprinkle with fresh thyme, paprika, lemon juice, salt to taste, and pepper.
4. Roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of your cauliflower, until golden. Baste with cooking juice from time to time. Check with a knife, if it slides in easily, then it’s cooked. You can broil for an extra 2 minutes if you want to give it a bit more color and crispiness, but make sure it doesn’t burn.
5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with thyme. Slice, and serve with an extra drizzle of the cooking juices.