Roasted cauliflower is one of my favorite foods and I’m always searching for new ways to enjoy it. With its heartiest, I thought it work well as a sort of pasta fake-out. I’ve also recently been introduced to the “cheesiest” of nutritional yeast.  So, I picked up a bottle of Bragg’s nutritional yeast seasoning from my local Whole Foods and decided to combine the two with my favorite marinara sauce and came up with this recipe. It’s not quite pasta, but it’s equally as tasty.

Ingredients:

1 medium-large head of cauliflower (the yellow variety looks particularly good in this dish)

2-3 tablespoons of paprika

1 tablespoon of dried oregano

2-3 tablespoons of sea salt

1 medium yellow squash

coconut oil spray (or non-stick spray of choice)

1 cup of spinach

1/2 cup of your favorite marinara sauce

2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast seasoning

3 or 4 basil leaves

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 465 degree. Fill a large soup pot with an inch of water and bring to a boil. While the water is heating, cut the cauliflower into large florets and add them stem-side down into the pot. Sprinkle a tablespoon of salt and tablespoon of paprika over the florets and boil for 10 minutes. In the meantime, peel and cut the squash in half lengthwise and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Spray with coconut oil. Then place the florets on a baking sheet next to the squash and sprinkle both with the remaining salt and paprika. Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes or until they begin to brown on the ends.

Reserve a fourth cup of the cauliflower stock in a small skillet. About 10 minutes before the cauliflower and squash are done, add spinach to the skillet and heat on low-medium heat until it cooks done. Then stir in the basil leaves and marinara sauce, cook for a minute or two then add nutritional yeast. Stir until well combined and simmer on low heat. (Note: if it looks too watery, turn up the heat to a light boil until it reaches desired consistency.)

Finally, take the cauliflower and squash out of the oven and mix into the spinach and sauce mixture. You can keep some of the cauliflower pieces larger and others smaller. Once it’s well-combined, bring it to a light boil and then reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Then enjoy!

Serves 1 person as a full dinner or 3-4 people as a side dish.