Want to know a secret?

Olive oil, salt and pepper, a little Parmesan cheese and  your 400-degree oven can totally transform any ho-hum vegetable into something yummy.

Take the humble cauliflower. On its own, it’s merely a vehicle for some ultra-creamy dip on a crudité platter. If we’re honest, it’s serviceable as “rice,” and it’s even less convincing as a pizza crust.

But drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper and roasted until the edges are ever-so-slightly charred and the cauliflower is soft enough to eat but still has texture? Now that’s a great vegetable right there. On the last 10 minutes of roasting, I like to grate a little Parm on top, and when it’s all done, it smells cheesy and irresistible. If you’re really lucky, some of the Parm will have fallen off and left you a crunchy little snack right there on the parchment paper that you’ll devour the second you take it out of the oven.

Along with the aforementioned cauliflower, I roasted some chickpeas with salt, pepper, a little smoked paprika and garlic powder at the same temp for about 15 minutes for the CC Bowl. They get irresistibly crunchy this way and made a great protein-packed topping.

On the bottom, we’ve got jasmine rice that I made with chicken stock instead of the water and a bay leaf. To give the dish a pop of freshness, I squeezed a little lime juice over the top and added a handful of spring onions. And since my carnivore husband requested seconds, I consider today’s lunch a success. Plus, it’s a great way to use a few pantry staples without breaking a sweat.