This roasted cauliflower with white bean puree renewed my cooking joy

What s your favorite thing to cook? It s a question I get asked practically every time someone learns what I do for work. And though well meaning, it...

“What’s your favorite thing to cook?” It’s a question I get asked practically every time someone learns what I do for work. And though well-meaning, it’s the one question the people who cook for a living hate getting the most. It was a topic on a recent episode of “The Chef’s Cut” podcast, hosted by chefs Adrienne Cheatham and Joe Flamm. “It’s such an insane question,” Flamm said. Think if it were asked of other professions. “It’s like, ‘What’s your favorite memo to write?’” Cheatham quipped.

Unless someone cooks only one thing, the idea of a favorite dish to prepare is preposterous to culinary professionals. To avoid the question, I tend to pivot to talking about a recipe I’m currently working on or whatever published most recently. And in the case of this vegan meal of roasted cauliflower florets with white bean puree and a punchy herb sauce, it is one my favorite things I’ve cooked in a while.

Get the recipe: Roasted Cauliflower With White Bean Puree

Regularly publishing recipes can feel like a bit of a slog at times - continuously researching, testing and writing - that dampens my enthusiasm for cooking. But after tasting this one, it was as if my culinary gas tank had been refilled, in part because it walloped my taste buds with flavor. And while still approachable, it feels more special than the standard weeknight-friendly one-pot meals or saucy pastas. (I still love these types of streamlined recipes, too.)

Cauliflower has had moments in the past when everyone seemed to be roasting it whole or treating it like steaks, but let this serve as a reminder that florets are still a great form to enjoy the brassica. I find the easiest and least messy way to separate a head into florets is to turn the cauliflower upside down, trim the core and pluck the whole florets off one by one, cutting any larger florets into pieces. (Alternatively, you can grab a bag of florets from the produce aisle to save time.) Then toss them with olive oil, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and roast them until tender and browned in spots.