I just need to vent here for a second.

Whatever lunch lady jerk that decided forcing kids to eat their veggies by serving them disgusting frozen florets should be beaten with a bag of crystallized broccoli.  Most American kids have an early onset of ‘oooohhhh <enter vegetable that has been raped and ridiculed by lunchroom preparation here> is groooooss’ syndrome.  And I’m just not digging it anymore.

Case in point:  cauliflower.  It’s a misunderstood vegetable – so versatile, so fun to cut up and make yummy veggie trees with and so goshdarn interesting to look at.

For pre-Mother’s Day celebrations this year, we splurged on a fab Italian meal at one of my favorite Houston restaurants Pizzeria Dolce Vita Enoteca – so afterwards we stuck close to home so as not to freak out our bank account further.  Worth it, in every way :)

With a head of cauliflower dying to be loved in our fredge, Adam made a brunch dish of my choice (thanks Vegan Brunch) – Curried CauliflowerFrittata (served with veggies and generous helping of whole wheat garlic-y toast) that couldn’t have been much better:

But here’s the magic, I didn’t really have to go back home for some cauliflower goodness.  Things are a-changing!

La Dolce Vita also has a brilliant little cauliflower siciliano appetizer , as does another local joint that I love Block 7 Wine Company (think buttery mm-mm-good roasted cauliflower with lemon juice and capers).  How happy does this make me?  Very, is the answer we are looking for here.

Other cauliflower delicacies you should know, love and try:

• Roasted cauliflower and boursin soup
• 101 Cookbooks simple cauliflower recipes
• Raw fried rice (with cauliflower)
• Moroccan cauliflower
• And… of course… the ever present cauliflower mash (as a substitute for potatoes)