Roasted cauliflower

THANKS to the surge in popularity of the Banting diet, the humble cauliflower is back in favour – and families on the "Tim Noakes" diet are looking for new and delicious ways to cook it.

Try this recipe for roasted cauliflower from the Allegra McEvedy cookery book, Around the World in 120 Recipes. It serves six as a side dish, but fewer as a main course.

INGREDIENTS:

2 small cauliflower (each about 500g), outer leaves removed

Extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon sumac

½ teaspoon ground cumin

Lemon juice

A handful of parsley, chopped

Sea salt

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Drizzle the cauliflower liberally with oil, scatter with salt and sprinkle over the sumac and cumin.

Roast for 45 minutes to an hour, but turn the temperature down if the cauliflower starts to get too dark. They are cooked when they are lightly browned and an inserted skewer meets with just a little resistance.

Before serving, drizzle again with good-quality olive oil and a fair squeeze of lemon, then scatter with parsley and a little more salt.

TIPS:

Sumac is lemony seasoning and there are various options if you cannot find it, such as lemon zest mixed with a little salt, or you can use commercial lemon pepper seasoning. Alternatively, a dash of vinegar in a flat teaspoon of paprika will give both the tartness and the colour of sumac.

• Around the World in 120 Recipes is published by Conran Octopus.