Baked Cauliflower with Turmeric and Other Anti-Inflammatory Spices

This recipe has been such a huge hit with family and friends, so I’ve made it over and over when I’ve had guests, each of them asking for the recipe so it was time to measure out the exact amounts of each of the spices and hand it out to everyone.

The reason everyone gives for liking this recipe is the fact that it tastes meaty and almost like it’s breaded, although I don’t put any type of breading on it whatsoever. In fact, breading could be quite good on baked cauliflower, but I’ve always been in such a rush when making this that I wouldn’t even entertain doing that for my own reasons. The main reason I love this dish is because I purposely pour on the anti-inflammatory spices and olive oil, which makes me feel good about serving this to the people I care about.

As many of us have been concerned with immunity and gut health, it’s been an ever-increasing priority for people to edit their diets in ways they had never really considered before the pandemic, for example. Turmeric is widely recognized for its anti-inflammatory properties (made popular by South Asian cuisines), so much so that there are even turmeric pills available nowadays for those who would rather consume turmeric in such a way.

In addition to turmeric, other spices in this recipe are also just as good in fighting inflammation: cumin, chili pepper, black pepper, oregano, parsley and crushed hot red pepper. I wanted to also add ginger (which is also anti-inflammatory) but I only had the fresh ginger on hand and I think that would have burned in the oven (same goes for garlic), so if you’d like to add these go ahead and use the dried ginger powder and also dried garlic powder.

The olive oil used in this recipe is another anti-inflammatory (and anti-viral) ingredient added.

It doesn’t get much better than this!

Here’s the recipe.

BAKED CAULIFLOWER with TURMERIC and OTHER ANTI-INFLAMMATORY SPICES

This is a fantastic side dish to chicken, fish and lamb.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

1 head of cauliflower

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

1 tablespoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Ajika Georgian spice blend (optional)

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon Turkish oregano (or any strong oregano such as Mexican; if not, use Italian)

2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove the florets from the head of cauliflower. In a large bowl combine the florets with all of the spices listed. Add the olive oil and combine well to make sure that all of the florets are covered nicely. Add more oil, if needed.

Pour the mixed cauliflower onto a baking sheet (better if you have parchment paper to line the pan with). Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.