I know, I know, Cauliflower has turned into that magic ingredient and I use it a lot lately. More often I use it as a riced cauliflower but today I wanted to show you different ways in which you can make the best use out of a Cauliflower head.
So let's get to it!
Cauliflower Steaks with Chimichurri dressing
This one I used as a side dish with a sugar-free sausage, and as you can see in the picture, the cauliflower steaks occupied most of my plate. And that's how you'll want your plate to look, with 3/4 of it being vegetables. And vegetables don't have to be boring. It all has to do with the way you cook them.
I also love to top pork sausages with sugar-free yellow mustard, and this went really well with the flavors of the chimichurri.
This recipe falls more into the WildFit gentle Spring and you can use the dressing part to go with many different dishes. For me, the dressing is a great pairing to a good organic, pasture-raised beef steak (Argentinian style).
Ingredients for the Cauliflower:
- 1 medium head of cauliflower
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- pre-heat the oven to 400 F
- remove the bottom leaves and a part of the stalk. Leave some of it because that's what's going to keep the florets together.
- slice the cauliflower in strips of around 1/2 inch, around the middle section. You can spare the other end parts that don't have a stalk to make riced cauliflower for instance. You should be able to make 2 to 3 steaks, depending of the size of the cauliflower.
- in an oven-safe skillet, heat up the olive oil in medium heat. Place the steaks in the hot olive oil add salt and pepper and cook until deep golden brown - about 5 minutes. Carefully flip the steaks, and add salt and pepper to the cooked side, as the second side browns for another 3-5 minutes.
- slide the skillet into the oven, and roast it until the stems are tender (8-10 min) - you can try and pierce a fork to test it.
- remove from oven and serve it with the chimichurri dressing on top.
Ingredients for the Chimichurri sauce (makes about 1 cup):
- 2 cups packed parsley leaves and tender stems
- 3-4 garlic cloves (1 tbsp minced)
- 1 medium shallot (I used red onion as I was out of shallots)
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
Instructions (if you have a food processor):
- place the garlic and onion together in the food processor and chop them.
- add the parsley and chop it all together again
- add the olive oil, salt, red chilly flakes, vinegar, and blend again.
- if you don't have a food processor, just make sure you mince the shallot, garlic, and parsley really well before you mix all ingredients.
(You can store the remaining of the dressing in your fridge for about a week on an airtight food container.)
*Based on the original recipe (with a few modifications) by inspiredtaste.net
Baby Broccoli "rice"
With the leftover Cauliflower, you can rice it (I do it with a food processor but you can use a cheese grater even) and cook it in many ways. I do love this version and it's another way to add more vegetables to your plate. This recipe can be used throughout all WildFit seasons, including Deep Spring.
Ingredients:
- leftover of the cauliflower head (or 1/2 a cauliflower head)
- 1 bunch of baby broccoli chopped into medium size parts
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions:
- heat up the olive oil on a medium skillet
- add the baby broccoli and the garlic, and season it with salt and pepper to taste. Keep stirring it for 2-3 minutes and then reduce the heat and cover it for another 3-5 minutes.
- put the heat back to medium/high heat and add the riced cauliflower. Stir for a couple of minutes and then reduce the heat and cover the skillet again. If needed add just a little bit of water to cover the bottom of the skillet. After 5 minutes turn off the heat and serve.
Enjoy the versatility of Cauliflower on your plate!