Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Grilled Cauliflower Steaks with Corn and Black Bean Salsa

2014_07_21a

I’ve been wanting to use my new grill more, but I’ve also wanted to still keep eating primarily vegetarian. I was having a hard time finding an easy main dish grilled veggie recipe. Our whole house loves cauliflower so when I came across this it looked like it was worth a try, and simple.

I didn’t have any cilantro on hand which I’m sure would add wonders to the taste. But I liked the combination of the cauliflower with the bean salsa. I grilled some zucchini as a side dish as well.

I only cut two “steaks” out of the cauliflower head. I wasn’t sure how thick to make them either. Mine were probably an inch and a half thick. The recipe said to grill them 3-4 minutes on each side, but I did about 10 minutes. I’d probably do a little longer next time because they were a little crunchier than I would have preferred.

I will definitely make these again with a few adjustments. It was just too easy and simple to not want to make it again.

RECIPES:

Grilled Cauliflower Steaks with Corn and Black Bean Salsa

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

“Pulled” Cauliflower BBQ Sandwiches

2014_06_08

I know this sounds weird. I was a little iffy on it too. I like cauliflower, but a cauliflower instead of pulled pork? I’m not so sure. However, I really liked these! Topped with caramelized onions and homemade BBQ sauce, I barely noticed it was cauliflower. Well, maybe that’s a stretch. You could definitely taste the cauliflower, but in a good way. You have to like cauliflower to like this.

The first time I did these I made them as sliders. The second time I used regular sized buns. The kids ate more and enjoyed it more as a slider size. This recipe definitely made it in the rotation.

This recipe is originally from the Beard and Bonnet website.

 

 

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Cauliflower Puree with Mushroom Compote, Seared Portabella, and Shiitake Bacon

2014_02_16a

Holy mushrooms! Mushrooms on mushrooms topped with more mushrooms. Oh yeah, there is some cauliflower in there somewhere too. If you love mushrooms, you’ll like this.

The original recipe calls for seared king mushrooms, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I opted for a portabella instead. It seemed like it got the job done. I do plan on making this again when I can find some king mushrooms though.

I served this on a bed of arugula mainly just to add some color. But the slight crunch seemed to compliment the cauliflower puree pretty well. The shiitake “bacon” topping is a must for this too. It obviously doesn’t taste like bacon, but it gives a similar texture and salty punch that bacon has. I’m not a huge bacon lover anyway so this was a great alternative.

So not only is this super tasty, but see how awesome this looks (if you like mushrooms)!

The recipe link has great instructions and photos that help in putting this epic fungi-liciousness together.

2014_02_16b

RECIPES:

Recipe is from a great vegan cooking blog called vegangela.com

Cauliflower Puree with Mushroom Compote, Seared Portabella, and Shiitake Bacon

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Cauliflower and Tofu Lasagna with Butternut Squash Sauce

I was expecting this to be just ok. I like tofu and cauliflower, but together in lasagna? I wasn’t sure. I had all the ingredients on hand so I thought I’d give it a try anyway. And to my surprise, I loved it, and the kids loved it. I even served it for friends and they liked it too! This was a surprising big winner.

The first time I made it I used a vodka pasta sauce, and the second time I splurged and bought the butternut squash pasta sauce and liked it even better! It was $8 a jar, but totally worth it!

I double the recipe. I used a full large head of cauliflower, two packs of tofu, and a jar and half of the butternut squash pasta sauce. Pair it with a vegetable or a salad and it’s good for two days. It required a little effort with roasting the cauliflower, but if you did that beforehand the prep actually goes pretty quickly.

This is a vegetarian recipe. If you want it vegan, just don’t put the cheese on top.

RECIPES:

Cauliflower and Tofu Lasagna with Butternut Squash Sauce

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

2013_01_23Most of my experience with cauliflower is with dip on a raw veggie tray. Anything tastes good goobered up in a ranch veggie dip. I don’t hate cauliflower, but it’s not something I would seek out or get excited about. Aya loves cauliflower though. So much it’s in her top three favorite vegetables. Wanting to please Aya, I decided to give this soup a try.

When it comes to cooking vegetables, roasting is always the best way to go, in my opinion. Cauliflower was no exception. I was surprised how great it tasted roasted. And once it was blended and cooked in soup form, it was outstanding! The dried bread and bacon garnish added just enough extra flavor. We both really liked this.

I served it with turkey sandwiches and a spinach salad.

RECIPES:

Roasted Cauliflower Soup