Romanesco is one of those beautiful, wild, weird-looking vegetables. A lime green – almost chartreuse – color, romanesco is a happy marriage between a cauliflower and a broccoli. Texture-wise it’s more like cauliflower, and it can be used in just about any recipe that requires cauliflower, brussels sprouts, broccoli rabe, or plain broccoli. It’s slightly nuttier and earthier tasting than any of those vegetables, and, if I loved it first for its good looks, I love it now for its great taste. I bought my romanesco for a photo shoot – what a pretty model! – and then I ate it. It’s cold outside right now so I roasted mine. Inspired by a pizza place in NY that serves a bitter, spicy, sour, and delicious broccoli rabe, I decided to give my psychedelic looking romanesco a similar treatment. And it worked. Totally amazing and easy to do. Obviously, this vegetable is healthy, and it’s a perfect side dish with chicken, fish, or as a main dish, served with a hearty salad, just add chickpeas or cannellini beans, and a simple vinaigrette, and you have a fabulous meal. You can eat romanesco raw, sautéed, roasted, or baked.
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