roasted cabbage

Tired of the same old sides? Out of ideas for cabbage beyond cole slaw and sauerkraut? I have two words for you: Roasted. Cabbage.

I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. Have you noticed that almost every vegetable becomes even more delicious when you roast it? Cabbage is no exception! It gets smooth, almost buttery, and flavorful--similar in taste to well-roasted cauliflower, but with a better texture.

I got the idea from an old Kitchn post, but that recipe calls for bacon, and to blacken the cabbage. I prefer my roasted vegetables meat-free and lower on carbon. So I made a few adjustments, including garlic instead of bacon and a shorter cooking time.

Roasted Cabbage

1 head of cabbage
5-6 cloves garlic, peeled
olive oil
salt

Preheat the oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Core the cabbage, and cut it into wedges--at least 8 wedges, more if it's a very large cabbage. (Mine was rather small, as you can see in the picture below.)

Lay the cabbage wedges flat on the baking sheet. Put the garlic between the wedges, and drizzle everything generously with olive oil. Sprinkle a bit of salt on top of each wedge.

I also tried a few drops of liquid smoke on each wedge, but it cooked off and I couldn't taste it.

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and flip each wedge. I used a fork to do it. The edges will be a little brown by now; the idea is to get them close to burnt but not burnt! SO put them back in the oven for 5 minutes. Everything should be brown-edged and fragrant; if they look a little pale, give it another 5 minutes.

Quick, easy, delicious, and unexpected! This is an awesome side dish for almost anything. Annnnd such a quick and easy side dish means you can spend more time outside enjoying the spring weather, like I've been doing!*

*-This is why I only got around to updating 3 times in April. Oops.

Swan boats! And cherry trees. The boyfriend and I walked through the Public  Garden last weekend and saw 3 weddings, 1 proposal, and 1 one-man band; a busy spring day!