I made many delicious side dishes for Thanksgiving this year. This one was one of the most successful!

This recipe is courtesy of Yotam Ottolenghi, found in his “Plenty More” cookbook.  There are so many wonderful recipes to choose from in all of his cookbooks. They present an unusual take on vegetables, grains and legumes that are combined with fresh ingredients to make wonderful dishes.

I choose this one because I wanted to learn how to use saffron, which quickly has become my new favorite ingredient. To tell you the entire truth, the picture he had in his book looked so beautiful I knew this would be on my Thanksgiving menu.

I will definitely be making this dish again sometime soon!

Ingredients for the Saffron Cauliflower

1 1/2 tsp. saffron
1/3 cup of boiling water
1 medium cauliflower, divided into medium florets

1 large red onion, sliced
2/3 cup of golden raisins (if they are dry, soak them in water for a few minutes, then drain)
1/2 cup good quality green olives, pitted and cut lengthways in half
4 tbsp. olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 cups of roughly chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 400.

Put the saffron strands in a small bowl and pour in the boiling water. Leave to infuse for a minute, then pour the saffron and water into a large mixing bowl. 

Add the remaining ingredients, except the parsley, and mix everything together with your hands.

Transfer the mix to a medium ovenproof dish, cover with aluminum foil and place it in the oven. Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender but still a bit firm, not soft. Remove the dish from the oven and stir it around, then recover and return to bake.

Once the cauliflower is cooked, take it out of the oven, remove the foil and allow to cool down slightly before stirring in the parsley.

Taste and adjust the seasoning, then serve warm or at room temperature.

It’s that simple!