co-op awesomeness {curried cauliflower and fruit leathers}

some part of me has always wanted to participate in a co-op.  jake might say it's the hippy part of me.

check out the last two shares.  seriously, why isn't everyone doing this!?

it's like christmas every saturday morning except for you have to stand in (what has been) a really long line and melt before you get your goodies.

the co-op keeps me on my toes.  trying to find new recipes and try new things.  so far, so good.  a few days ago we enjoyed some serious delicious roasted curried cauliflower.  

the photo i took was something horrible so i've borrowed the photo from the original source and linked back.  i think that's the legal way to do this?

recipe source summertime tomato

roasted curried cauliflower

1 large cauliflower (approx. 2 lbs)

curry powder

olive oil

kosher or sea salt

"pre-heat oven to 500 degrees. break cauliflower into medium-small florets and place into large bowl or baking pan.  be sure the pieces are as evenly sized as possible, or they will cook unevenly.  the smaller you make the pieces, the quicker they will cook and the more caramelized they will become, which i consider a good thing.

drizzle cauliflower pieces generously with olive oil and season well with salt and curry powder.  distribute evenly in a single layer at the bottom of a baking pan.  if necessary, use a second baking pan to be sure the pieces aren't too crowded.

cover the pans with foil and place into the oven.  roast, covered for 10-15 minutes.  the cauliflower should be slightly soft and start looking translucent.  if not, replace foil and cook for another 5 minutes.

when the cauliflower has finished steaming, remove the foil and toss with tongs.  continue to roast, stirring every 8-10 minutes until the tips of the cauliflower begin to brown and become crisp as pictured. approximately 30-35 minutes.

adjust salt to taste (you will probably need another sprinkle) and serve."

what else?

we had some serious pears and peaches so i made fruit leathers.  fun!  the kids ate them up before i even had time to prepare them for storing.  we tried strawberry with pear and also peach.  i liked the peach best but probably because the strawberry/pear ones had the seeds in them (note to self, get the seeds out of the puree before drying).

fruit leathers

4 cups chopped fruit (peeled, pitted, whatever you want)

squeeze of lemon juice

2-3 tbsp agave nectar

heat everything over medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes.  run through a food processor or blender then spread onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  cook at 150 degrees for several hours until the fruit is no longer sticky when touched.  pull out, let cool, slice and serve. yum!  (p.s. my oven doesn't go down to 150 so i was forced to keep it at 170 with the door cracked open using a heating pad.  mine turned out pretty well this way although the edges were a little hard compared to the middle.  i think 150 would do the trick.  oh well).

how about that?!

needless to say, i'm totally excited for saturday's share!  for more info, visit bountifulbaskets.org. (p.s. this is not limited to utah).