I’m a big vegetable eater. I’ve loved vegetables since I was a kid and have always been pretty open to retrying things that I didn’t like years ago. For instance, I’ve never liked cauliflower. Didn’t like it steamed, didn’t like it raw with ranch dip, didn’t like it with cheese sauce. Just didn’t like it. But I have always been a broccoli fan, my favorite as a child being with cheese sauce. What kid doesn’t like cheese sauce?
But now that I’m an adult, some of my favorite vegetables are broccoli and cauliflower and asparagus prepared in the way I’m about to show you. Though I didn’t cook asparagus this time, the recipe is the same as the broccoli which is MINUS the Red Hot hot sauce. I’ll give you full details on it so you can mix and match the vegetables you want to cook to go with your next main course dish. Let me be the first to say, the cauliflower with Red Hot hot sauce… It’s the BOMB!
Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower broken into florets
1 head of broccoli broken into florets
4 tbsp olive oil
Red Hot hot sauce
Salt
Pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
We’re going to take our head of cauliflower and our head of broccoli and wash them first before we break them up into florets. Some florets come off way bigger than the others so I usually break them off the head first, then cut them all to be similar, bite sizes and put them in two separate bowls; broccoli in one bowl, cauliflower in the other.
Next, we’re going to dry them off by patting them dry with some paper towels. This just helps the sauce stick to them, otherwise the oil will just run off.
In the bowl of cauliflower we’re going to drizzle 2 tbsp of olive oil over the florets. If you don’t think you’ve coated them enough, don’t hesitate to use a little more olive oil. Next, we’re going to do several shakes/squirts of Red Hot hot sauce into the cauliflower. I do just enough that all the cauliflower is tinged pinkish-orange. Unless you’re REALLY into spicy things, don’t over do it, just flavor it to your tastes. And, if you’re worried about kids eating it, just 4-5 shakes is perfect. My 11 year old loves it and it’s not too spicy!
Add salt and pepper to taste and toss the cauliflower in its bowl until it’s all well coated. Now we’re going to take a baking sheet and cover it in tin foil just to keep the sheet from getting messy and help with clean up. You don’t HAVE to do this but I recommend it as the cauliflower, when cooking, can stick a little. Spread your cauliflower on the baking sheet in a single layer and set it aside. Now on to the broccoli!
To the broccoli, we drizzle 2 tbsp of olive oil over it, or more if you’re not confident its coated well enough, and then we just season it with salt and pepper. On a second baking sheet, cover the sheet with tin foil and spread your broccoli out on it in a single layer.
If you’re doing asparagus, you’re going to wash your asparagus, cut off the white stems then dry the asparagus using some paper towels. Next, spread your asparagus in a single layer on a tin foil covered baking sheet. Drizzle the asparagus with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. That’s it! Simple preparation!
Slide your baking sheets into the oven and we’re going to bake them 20-25 minutes or until the tips of the florets start to turn brown or the tips of the asparagus start to turn brown. My family likes them a little more brown than others, so some of the tips look a little crispy, because I think it’s -delicious-! But, that doesn’t mean you have to cook them as long as I do. Once your 20-25 minutes are up, the broccoli/cauliflower/asparagus will be browned slightly and firm, yet easily pierced with a fork.
Remove from the oven and serve with your favorite main dish. I served these with some fried chuck steaks. Also, if I have left over veggies, which is rare, I just heat them up in the microwave and they’re still SUPER tasty!