What on earth can you do with a Cauliflower in the height of summer?

It was going to be a seriously hot day and a quick spin around the allotment to sort the watering resulted in a neighbour offering us a lovely cauliflower because… they had lots spare… as you do… in July. Ask most people what they would do with a cauli at anytime and I am sure it is going to involve cheese or being boiled to within an inch of its life as a side veg. So in the height summer this might be a challenge, fortunately there is a wonderful charred cauliflower, lemon, caper and orzo recipe that might make you think differently.

The great thing about having an allotment is you really can’t say no (unless it is courgettes of course) when someone offers you something from their plot. You can’t say no because it is a genuine offer, they don’t want to see things go to waste and if you weren’t there at that time it may have ended up in the compost bin.  You can’t say no because in your heart you know what it took to grow that produce which means if you have an allotment and someone offers you some of their produce (unless it is courgettes of course) you must always say yes, thank you and then work out what on earth to do with the unexpected bounty.

So we all like an allotment/cooking cross-over challenge and a cauliflower in the height of summer has got to be up there and the good old Internet and BBC GoodFood delivered the answer…

If you are given a cauliflower in the height of summer and you have veggie, vegan, meatie mouths to feed then I guarantee this recipe will get the folks singing your praises. I upped the stock intensity when we did it but might dial it back down a smidge – otherwise it is just a lovely dish and one what won’t disappoint.

Charred cauliflower, lemon & caper orzo

• https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/charred-cauliflower-lemon-caper-orzo (BBC GoodFood)