I don't love cauliflower. I don't dislike it either, but it seldom occurs to me to buy it, cook it, or eat it.

My friend Guppy sang the praises of roasted cauliflower and I thought I'd give it a try. Wonderful stuff. Roasting does a cauliflower good.

Roasted Cauliflower

Cut a head of cauliflower into approximately 1 inch pieces.
Toss the pieces in a little olive oil and sprinkle with some salt and pepper.
Spread in one layer across a cookie sheet and roast in a 400F oven for ~20 minutes until the cauliflower is soft and lightly caramelized.

My test eater, who loudly expressed his displeasure at the sight of cauliflower in the shopping basket, declared roasted cauliflower to be "magic" and his new favourite vegetable.

The popular South Beach Diet book suggests steaming cauliflower until quite soft and then "mashing" it with an immersion blender until you end up with something that could reasonably replace mashed potatoes.

I tried it, and ended up with something that could reasonably replace wallpaper paste. Not good. Not even edible by my standards.

But a with a little tinkering I eventually ended up with something that I really liked.

Mashed Cauliflower with Maple Pecan Crust

Break 1 head of cauliflower into pieces
Steam until very soft
Mash with an immersion blender
Salt to taste
Add a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of cinnamon, stir to blend.

Transfer the mash to a baking dish or individual ramekins.

Roughly chop a handful of pecans
Sprinkle the pecans with a little bit of cinnamon and scatter over the cauliflower mash.
Drizzle a little bit of (sugar free, if you're really serious about the low carb stuff) maple syrup over the pecans
Bake in a 400F oven until the pecans start to caramelize.

No matter what you do to it, you're never going to get cauliflower to taste like mashed potatoes (and why would you?) but this does make a very tasty side dish that I'd be happy to serve in place of spuds.

I love fennel. I think you should love it too.

Braised Fennel

Cut 2 large fennel bulbs into quarters, cutting out the tough bottom part of the core.

Place in a ceramic dish that is not much bigger than necessary to fit the fennel.
Dab with 1 T butter
Pour over 1/2 cup of vermouth and 2 T of water.
Seal tightly with foil.
Bake in a 350F oven for 30 - 45 minutes, until soft and tender.

Remove the foil and place a few thin slices of chevre on top, return to the oven, under the broiler to brown the cheese.

I generally make this as a side for white fish or roast pork. Sometimes I add a couple of apples (cut into wedges) for a bit of sweetness.

Fennel Pear and Truffle Salad

Core the fennel bulbs.
Slice the fennel bulbs very thinly with a mandoline or a Benriner slicer.
Peel, core, quarter and thinly slice 1 pear for each fennel bulb
Drizzle some white truffle oil (Truffle oil is expensive but you only need a little bit) over the fennel and pear, and toss well.

Add a handful of toasted hazelnuts or walnuts and serve with a couple of parmesan shavings over top.

This is one of my favourite salads and I serve it with pretty much everything, but it really sings when paired with white fish.

If that's not enough fennel for you, Check out Clotilde's Fennel and Orange Peel Soup

Mushrooms make things better.

Gather up as many and as varied wild mushroom as you can find and afford. Augment with button mushrooms. Brush to clean and cut up into fairly uniform sizes.

In a saute pan sweat some minced shallots and a minced small clove of garlic in butter.

Saute the mushrooms until soft. Add some olive oil and a little thyme.

Sprinkle over a couple tablespoons of sherry and the juice of one lemon. Salt and white pepper to taste.

Stir to incorporate and toss the entire mess over plates of mixed greens.

Serve with crusty bread, with pears and blue cheese for dessert.

Asparagus with Sesame Seeds
2 lbs asparagus (thick asparagus is better than thin in this dish.)

6 Tbs. light soy sauce
2 Tbs. sugar
4 Tbs. sesame seeds

Wash and snap off asparagus bottoms. Cut into 1-1 1/2inch lengths. Put into large pot of boiling water for about 90 seconds. Rinse in cold water and drain.

Put sugar into soy sauce. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved.

Toast in frying pan, shaking constantly, until very light brown. Grind about 1/3 of seeds in food mill or crush with mortar and pestle. Stir into soy sauce mixture. Pour mixture over asparagus and stir well. Chill in refrigerator, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with whole sesame seeds when ready to serve.

(courtesy Jo)

Gabby's Sweet Potato Crack

A nice twist on the traditional sweet potato is the following recipe, found last year in an issue of Martha Stewart Living:

Slice sweet potatoes into 1-inch tall rounds

Mix in a bowl with freshly minced garlic (the more the better frankly), olive oil, kosher salt (to taste) and thyme.

Put into baking pan (I think that ceramic white works best but this might be because my oven is, it seems, nuclear powered) and bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until tender.

(courtesy Gabby. And god love her for it)