Give Plain Cauliflower The Cowboy Treatment For A Side Dish Sure To Wow

As far as vegetables go, cauliflower doesn't exactly have the most exciting reputation. Unless you coat it in a spicy sauce for crunchy buffalo cauliflower wings, just steaming or roasting it can be a little bland. But the truth is, that mildness is what makes it an incredible blank canvas to cook with something punchy like cowboy butter. Cauliflower caramalizes as it roasts and this brings out a very subtle and sweet nuttiness, which is a pleasant flavor, if a tiny bit lacking. Cowboy butter — a compound butter that is often used as a way to upgrade steak with something spicy and creamy (although it can also be eaten as a spread or a dip in its own right) — can bring more savory depth. It's is made by combining butter with garlic, lemon, mustard, and a mix of herbs and spices so it's sharp, slightly spicy, and exactly what cauliflower needs.

The shape of cauliflower also works really well for being brushed with some cowboy butter. The butter will soak into all the crevices of each floret as it melts instead of sitting firmly on top of a solid surface. This way every bite of the cauliflower has some extra dimension.

Roasting is the easiest way to make this work well, although cooking the cauliflower in an air fryer can work too. Cauliflower develops its golden color, caramelized flavor, and crispy texture under high heat, and that texture is what will give the cowboy butter something to hold onto. So first, you need to decide if you want to cut your cauliflower into florets or keep it whole, both have their perks. A whole cauliflower is more impressive when it comes to serving, but it'll take longer to cook than florets. Then drizzle it with oil and roast in the oven or air fry until it's tender. Once you can piece a fork through it's flesh, it's ready to be brushed with cowboy butter. You can then pop it back into the oven for a few minutes so it gets crisp, brown, and fragrant.

Some recipes will suggest you roast the cauliflower in the cowboy butter from the start, but by putting butter and and herbs under heat for so long you run the risk of not getting the best out of them. Fresh herbs and delicate ingredients like lemon zest and garlic can become dull under high heat at best, or you'll end up burning the butter at worst (butter has a smoke point of 350 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas cauliflower needs 400 to 425 degrees Fahrenheit for proper roasting). It'll also be easier to brush the butter onto a hot cauliflower, whether it's florets or a whole head. Once you realize just how much cowboy butter can elevate your cauliflower, you can experiment with other "blank canvas food" because it works just as well with roasted potatoes and corn, or even slathered onto all sides of garlic bread.