I went shopping with some friends in a wholesale market in Epping, near Cape Town. We bought kilos and kilos of fruits and veggies at a really reasonable price, then we divided among us all the produce. Just look at all these goodies !
Some of the cauliflower I brought home ended up in a soup, another part I roasted in the oven and spiced up with za’atar and lemon juice. I’ve only recently discovered za’atar, this Middle Eastern blend of dried herbs, sesame seeds, sumac and salt and boy have I been obsessed with it ever since! I’m sprinkling it on sweet potato fries, spicing up meatballs, chicken and all my vegetarian dishes with it!
You can serve roasted cauliflower as sidedish or use it as part of a vegetarian lunch bowl as I did here along with quinoa, green salad and chickpea salad.
What you’ll need to serve 4 :
- 1 cauliflower cleaned and cut in florets
- 1 garlic clove peeled and crushed
- a good splash of olive oil
- juice of half a lemon
- a generous tbs of za’atar
- 1 tsp of chili flakes
- Himalaya salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- a bunch of fresh finely chopped parsley
What you’ll need to do:
- Preheat oven to 200°C.
- Mix the olive oil with the crushed garlic, salt, pepper, chili flakes and lemon juice in a small bowl.
- Place the cleaned and chopped cauliflower on a non-stick roasting pan in a single layer. Cover the cauliflower with the garlicky-spicy olive oil, tossing well to coat every piece. First bake 10 minutes covered in aluminum foil then uncovered for 15-20 minutes until cauliflowers are crunchy and golden. Drizzle with some more freshly squeezed lemon juice and olive oil and top with finely chopped parsley.
Today’s bonus photos come from the vineyards. The Cape wine routes are a major tourist attraction, easy to understand when you get a glimpse of the stunning scenery.
This time we visited the Jordan wine estate in Stellenbosch and had lunch in one of their restaurants, The Bakery. After stepping through the barrel entrance door, you find a very friendly, relaxed interior. You can buy the Bakery’s own olive oil, their homemade breads are delicious and they offer vegetarian dishes like this tomato soup and oven baked mixed veggie dish.
