Roasted Cauliflower Leaves

After all this time, all my three cauliflower plants have put out is leaves.  The healthiest is growing leaves two feet long, green, and lustrous.  I trim them off periodically and toss them in the greens bin.

One day while trimming them, I noticed that they smell almost like cabbage.  I went off to Google if you can eat cauliflower leaves, and it turns out you can.  Since they're always trimmed at the market, it never occurred to me that they could be a thing.

Now, getting the leaves might be hard if you don't garden.  I would suggest asking at a Farmer's Market or a grocery store that has open heads, not the ones pre-packaged at the farm.  Someone must trim the leaves so you don't have to pay for their weight.

These leafy greens seem to be most popular online as roasted into chips, like kale chips.  The stems didn't roast to the point I could chew them because I cut the pieces too big, but they are theoretically edible when roasted.

One recipe on Serving Tonight came with an aioli-style dip.  It sounded good, and would also go with the kohlrabi fritters, so I whipped it up and will add it here.

*leaves from 1 head of cauliflower (way less than I used)

1 Tb olive oil

salt and pepper

1.  Thoroughly wash leaves and chop into 2" pieces.  I left mine about 6", and they did get a bit unwieldy, as well as hard to chew.  Toss in a bowl with oil and salt & pepper to taste.

2.  Preheat oven to 425º.  Spread pieces on a baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes, toss, and bake another 10, until crisp.  While that's going on, make the dipping sauce...

*1/2 C mayonnaise

*1 clove garlic, grated

1 tsp lemon juice

kosher salt to taste

1.  Whisk together all ingredients.  Allow to chill until leaves are ready.

Serve leaves with aioli on the side.  These do not keep for the next day, so only make what you can finish.

Difficulty rating  π