My lemon pasta recipe with roasted cauliflower is another quick meal to prep, with an end result that is colorful in taste and presentation. I have converted a few people who said they weren't fans of cauliflower by simply roasting it with just a bit of olive oil, lemon and a few spices. Mix it in with this simple pasta and I'll have them hooked. My husband didn't think cauliflower was a veggie that kids would want but he ate his words after watching them picking the leftover florets off of the baking sheet after finishing their pasta.
A loose rule that I live by is that the more colorful the veggie the better. My local markets have gorgeous varieties of green, yellow and purple cauliflower, often year-round since I am in California. Other areas of the country and world have entirely different veggies coming in different colors. On that note I also often reach for purple potatoes or sweet potatoes even when a recipe just says "potatoes". The different colored cauliflower obtain their hue from antioxidants (rather than chemicals or dyes, so no need to worry there). In my opinion it makes the roasted cauliflower dish much more beautiful, which gets more people eating vegetables and that's always a good thing, right?
My husband and I didn't always eat as healthy as we do now, but once we started down the path of preparing vegetable dishes and salads in ways that would appeal to as many of our senses as we could, then we noticed we craving those healthy flavors more than the trans-fat, sodium rich and sugar filled products that previously had us hooked. It wasn't overnight, but the journey itself was enjoyable. For many years I made pasta dishes with just a couple of veggies poking through the pasta, cheese and sauce. Nowadays, oftentimes the veggies are the star of the show. Hope you'll enjoy this lemon pasta with roasted cauliflower recipe
📖 Recipe
Lemon Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower ( i used a mix of green yellow and purple cauliflower)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 4 teaspoons thyme springs or about 2 of chopped, fresh thyme leaves
- 1 medium white onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- salt/pepper to taste
- optional: a pinch of coriander or cumin
- For Pasta:
- 1 lb pasta
- ⅔ cup olive oil
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- salt/pepper to taste
- Optional : parmesan cheese
- Fresh herbs parsley or basil
Method
- Preheat the oven to 425F
- Cut cauliflower into florets
- In a mixing bowl, toss in the cauliflower, garlic, thyme, onion, lemon zest, coriander, cumin, olive oil, salt/pepper to taste. Mix well.
- Transfer the cauliflower to a large baking sheet
- Roast for 30 minutes. At halfway mark shift cauliflower around a bit.
- For pasta:
- Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling, salted water. Keep stirring and cook until tender / al dente.
- Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Toss pasta and mix in cauliflower with the lemon sauce. Season with salt/pepper to taste
- Serve with parmesan cheese or your favorite herbs
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
DogVills says
Can't wait to try this, my husband and I going to make this one tonight! I'm sure your lemon pasta roasted cauliflower is amazing.
Victoria says
A combination of healthiness and deliciousness! An awesome and perfect in one plate!! It looks yummy makes my mouth watery!
Christine Cox says
This is a really pretty dish! And now you have me craving everything on this plate.
uprunforlife says
I haven't tried cauliflower in a long time. I don't know if I would like it. However, your recipe looks amazing.
Tami Qualls says
I enjoy cauliflower but my family does not. I am thinking they can eat pb&j while I'm enjoying this dish!
Elizabeth O. says
This is my kind of recipe and I'm definitely going to keep it. I like that it has pasta since my kids and I love pasta dishes.
RonRon says
Thanks for this yummy recipe. Super love this. Looks really delicious too!
Krystal says
I always need NEW ideas for healthy side dishes. This looks really delicious!
geaninecilenti says
Looks great, and I'm sure it taste delicious as well!