Roasted cauliflower with smoky sauce: seriously incredible!

Roasted cauliflower health benefits

Roasted cauliflower is incredibly delicious, but it is still one of the healthiest veggies existing. And this recipe will be a perfect tool for picky-eaters, because to be honest, let’s say that it has never been the fave vegetable for anyone under 10 yrs old!
When I was a child I didn’t feel a great sympathy for cauliflower: its smell and the mushy consistence were a deterrent for a little pampered brat like me. At the time I was completely unaware of the importance of the Cruciferous in my diet and honestly the term antioxidants was also a little bit scary to me! So in order to fully appreciate it many years had to pass.
Now for six months a year cauliflower is part of my natural, healthy and sustainable cuisine. And it is a great good thing, because under that tender aspect there is a real “force of nature”.
Cauliflowers like all members of the Brassicaceae family, differently from other vegetables, show the highest levels of isothiocyanates, a substance considered anticancer: it increases the body’s ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells of various types of tumors (colorectal, lung, prostate, breast). The isothiocyanate most present in cauliflowers is sulforaphane, which since its discovery (1992), has been the protagonist of many scientific studies based on the understanding of its physiological role in nutraceuticals.
But cauliflowers are more than this: because they contain also folates, vitamin A, C, soluble and insoluble dietary fiber and a good dose of calcium: desirable elements for the many functions of a healthy and active body. Of course, if consumed raw, it is easier to absorb its vitamins intact; however, cauliflowers (such as broccoli) contain an enzyme called myrosinase very useful for liver, which is activated by heat: therefore a quick cooking, better steaming and no more than 5 minutes is very useful.
In light of the above, this very simple recipe of roast cauliflower, manages to offer a well balanced compromise (by putting together cooked and less cooked parts); the result is really incredible, delicious and able to open a new horizon of culinary expression.
I recommend it to everyone, especially families with children.

Before proceeding to the ingredients, one last thing: according to tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on the amount of pesticides contained in 48 foods including fruit and vegetables (out of more than 36,000 samples tested), cauliflowers are included in the list of less dangerous foods: if they were grown using conventional methods (not organic for example), this would not represent a major problem for human health, since they do not require high doses of pesticides.