Roasted chicken on cauliflower

Roasted chicken on cauliflower is the easy solution for those who love good food but have to avoid the high-GI carbohydrates; there is a scrumptious alternative to white rice and potatoes from cold storage.

If you are not that partial to the flavour of cauliflower then you can add a chunk of a soft smelly-cheese at the end; it will make the dish creamier and a little richer.

But then have we not been hoodwinked into believing we need only eat those foods that taste divine to us? Some should be consumed whether we like them or not, simply because they are vital for our well-being if we want to live long in the land.

There's no other way to get all those essential phytonutrients^[3]; there are literally thousands of them.

This page was last updated by Bernard Preston on 9th January, 2023.

If you search for the glycemic index of cauliflower you'll find that it lies in the low GI group whereas potato and white rice are very high. That makes it a great substitute for the starchy-foods.

New potatoes are the exception^[1]; they are high in "resistant starch" that will not effect our waistlines like those from cold-storage.

If you like your chicken spicy then you can baste it with your favourite condiments. Some like it hot so I will be including fresh jalapeño from the garden; it is very easy to grow by the way and the bright red fruit will liven up any flower-bed.

Unless you are crazy like me, you will need only one or two plants. I eat them every day for their anti-inflammatory effect; it's all about the capsaicin. A life without medication and pain is a joy.

Cauliflower too is easy to grow in your veggie patch in the cooler months. In South Africa that means planting out the seedlings in late summer; say in March and April. They have a long growing-season and now in July we are enjoying the first fruits.

Banting diet

Not only does cauliflower have a low glycemic index but it also has very little carbohydrate which makes it perfect for those on the Banting diet^[4].

I am not a fan by the way though it has many virtues; you can read why at the rebuttal page^[5]. Enjoy roasted chicken on cauliflower without guilt.

Did you know that if you follow a thousand people on any one of the many diets, after one year only five percent will have lost weight? And many are actually heavier. Grasping the meaning of glycemic-index is the way to slim permanently.

The bed of mashed cauliflower is quite difficult to see; next time I will use two. One did not go anywhere; it was so enjoyed by all.

Roasted chicken on cauliflower

You already have a hot oven

This is the opportunity to turn your lovely dinner of roasted chicken on cauliflower into a feast. I always do two birds by the way because we are a family of four adults and three children. Living in a commune of sorts has been for us a great success; but if you cannot hold your tongue and feel the need to constantly give advice, then don't do it.

Cut a butternut in half, scooping out the pips, adding a lump of butter; and your favourite herbs especially thyme.

Either place it in the roasting pan along with the chicken or its own oven-dish.

Butternut has a low glycemic-index but inexplicably is banned if you are banting; it is indeed largely carbohydrate but rich in the phytonutrients that prevent dread disease. Keep the load down with small portions.

• Pumpkin for diabetes
  

• Roasted butternut squash recipe with thyme.
  

Roasted chicken spices

I always say a recipe is just the start to get an idea; you add your favourite spices to the baste. Here are mine.

1. Growing coriander; it's like a weed.
2. How to grow chilli.

Now blend it with the olive oil.

Use the mixture to baste your spatchcock chicken.

Put it together

If you have the time I like to leave the chicken in a closed dish in the hot oven for another half an hour; then it will fall off the bone, finger-licking good. Scrape in any of the remaining basting.

Place the mashed cauliflower on a serving platter; carve off some white meat and the chicken thighs, layering them over the vegetables. Pour some of the oven-dish juices over the meat.

Enjoy with a serving of greens like broccoli or kale. Both are found in the world's healthiest anti-tumour stakes. They are also rich in a phytochemical called sulforaphane that is vital for diabetics.

I have never made this butter chicken curry using only lightly-roasted breasts from the BBQ but I would bet it would be a winner; the reco[e is one of my favourites. That's something for the future.

Freeze the carcass and bones for a future broth.

• How to grow broccoli
• Nutritional value of kale

• How to cook cauliflower
• Cauliflower soup recipe

Roasted chicken curry

Modified Banting diet

Let me say up front I am no fan of the Banting diet despite the fact that it works; folk do lose weight and it is relatively easy because you don't feel famished while on keto.

I have three serious things against it.

1. Banning all legumes because of their carb content means a platter high in animal-protein. You'll lose weight but are likely to get a malignant tumour instead.
2. Low GI starches like butternut do not produce an insulin rush. That is what's fattening about potato and white-rice; chocolate cake and colas too.
3. Fruit is not banned but except for berries is severely limited.
   

However the modified Banting diet^[4] has a lot of merit. This roasted chicken on cauliflower, with butternut on the side is a perfect example of a nutritious non-fattening dish. Just don't eat too much because it is delicious; keep the glycemic-load down. 

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