Steak?

You guys are sneaky. I honestly didn’t think in a million years that cauliflower steak would win the poll. It not only won, it crushed all other options!

You guys really want to see a steak made of cauliflower!

I guess I’m happy to oblige.

For me, does this replace a wonderfully marbled and juicy medium-rare steak? Abso-freaking-lutely not.

But honestly it turned out a lot better than I was expecting. The cauliflower is really filling and has a good texture.

All the flavor comes from the tapenade on top. That’s the highlight of the meal for sure in my book.

Cauliflower Steaks

Yield: Serves 2-4.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 large head of cauliflower
2 tablespoons olive oil

Tapenade:
1/2 cup cauliflower florets, chopped
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup kalamata olives, diced
2-3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 lemon, juice only
Salt and pepper

Tomato Sauce:
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
A pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper

Helpful Equipment:
Mini food processor

Directions:

1) Slice cauliflower head down the center and cut off all of the leaves. Slice off four 1/2 inch "steaks" of cauliflower. If your cauliflower head is very small you might only get 2-3 steaks out of it. Make sure they are a nice thickness.

2) Some florets will fall off as you cut the steaks, reserve them and chop them. Add enough florets to this until you have 1/2 cup of chopped florets.

3) Dice olives and sun-dried tomatoes and mix with chopped florets. Mix in parsley, lemon juice, and a dash of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and set aside for later.

4) To start steaks, add a good drizzle of olive oil to a large skillet and get it hot over high heat. Sear cauliflower steaks on both sides until they are nicely seared, about 3 minutes per side. You will have to work in two batches to sear all the steaks if you have 4.

5) Add steaks to a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Flip the steaks once halfway through roasting.

6) Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium pot. Add garlic and cook for a minute.

7) Add in diced tomatoes and continue to cook until simmering. Season with a pinch of sugar and salt and pepper.

8) Pulse tomato sauce in a food processor until smooth then return to pot and keep warm until needed.

9) Cauliflower steaks are done when they are tender in the thickest stem parts.

10) Serve steaks on the tomato sauce with a drizzle of good olive oil. Top with tapenade.

Adapted from Bon Appetit Jan. 2012.

Let’s Talk Cauliflower

I’m a big fan of cauliflower actually even though I don’t make it too much for Macheesmo posts. One of my favorite ways to prep cauliflower is to roast it with some balsamic and parmesan cheese. That’s good stuff.

Of course, for this we are keeping it really simple. The key to making a steak out of cauliflower is slicing it pretty thick. If you don’t slice it thick, it’ll just fall apart.

Bon Appetit says to slice it at least 1/2 inch thick, but I would maybe lean even more to 3/4-1 inch thick. You have to flip this thing a few times and you want it to stay in one nice piece.

Here’s my first steak!

Custom cut steaks.

You should be able to get 2-4 steaks per head of cauliflower depending on how big your hunk of cauliflower is.

One this is for sure though, as you cut the steaks, you’ll produce lots of what I call cauliflower schrapnel.

You’re going to want about 1/2 cup of this schrapnel for the tapenade later so if you don’t have that much just chop up a few florets to make more.

The florets.

The Tapenade

Like I said, I thought the best thing about this dish was the tapenade. Even Betsy said it was okay and she despises olives.

In fact, you could just make the tapenade and put it on crostini or something and that would be a very delicious appetizer.

Finally some flavor!

To make it, just dice up everything pretty finely and stir it together. If you can, make this first so it sits together for a few minutes.

The flavors need a chance to mingle.

Season the tapenade with salt and pepper but be careful with the salt. The olives and sun-dried tomatoes are already a bit salty so you won’t need much.

This is really tasty actually.

A Basic Tomato Sauce

The original recipe calls for real tomatoes, but I’m just never really all that impressed with December tomatoes so I just used a can of diced tomatoes to make my version.

This sauce is about as easy as sauce gets. Just dice up a few cloves of garlic and toss them in a pot with a drizzle of olive oil. Cook them on medium heat until they are soft (about 2 minutes), then add in the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.

I went ahead and blended mine up so it was smooth. You could leave it chunky though or use tomato sauce instead of diced tomatoes and you would be all set.

Season the sauce with a pinch of sugar and salt and pepper. If you wanted to get crazy you could add in some dried marjoram which goes really well with cauliflower. Totally optional though.

About as simple as sauce can get.

Cooking the Steaks

I must say, cooking these cauliflower steaks are a lot easier than real steaks. For one, they are cheap. So if you mess up at least you aren’t out $20. Second, while you can technically overcook them, it’s a lot more difficult. There’s a pretty wide range of acceptable finished temperatures for these guys. Not true (in my opinion) for real steaks.

To start cooking them, add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a large pan and get it hot over high heat. Once it’s hot, add in the cauliflower steaks. I followed Bon Appetit’s advice and didn’t season my cauliflower at all. I just tossed them in the pan.

If I were to make these guys again (possible) then I think I might spice up the steaks a bit with some cumin or marjoram or just some salt and pepper. If you do add something, go light on it. The tapenade has a lot of flavor.

Sear the steaks for about 3 minutes per side on blazing high heat. This creates a nice sear on them.

Nice crust on that steak.

Then transfer the steaks to a 350 degree oven for about 18 minutes to finish cooking. Take them out and flip them once about half way through just to make sure they are cooking evenly.

If your pan isn’t oven-safe that you seared them in, you can transfer them to a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake them on that.

Serving is pretty straightforward: sauce, cauliflower, drizzle of olive oil, tapenade. Pile it high!

Not too bad actually.

I was very skeptical of how this would turn out. So was my loving wife.

We were both pleasantly surprised with it though! It’s much more filling than it looks and has some good flavors.

The steak on its own is kind of just a vessel for the sauce and tapenade.

The cauliflower has great texture though and if you’re feeding vegetarians, it’s a fun change from the portabella steaks that they are probably most used to.

Healthy and delicious!

One of my favorite meals during the summer months is a veggie-packed salad. Grabbing a bunch of fresh items from the market and topping them with a simple salad dressing can sometimes be exactly what my body needs.

It’s kind of hard to replicate that situation in the winter. I mean, sure, you can go to the grocery store and pick up some okay stuff that’s been shipped across the world, but it wouldn’t taste as good.

Not to mention that when it’s cold out, I’m not in the mood for a huge plate of crunchy cold veggies. Just doesn’t work.

And that’s where this salad comes in. It has only a few ingredients all of which are very available in colder months. By cooking the salad slightly, it’s makes for a really delicious, and warm, meal.

I topped mine with some marinated chicken, but you could definitely make this salad just as a side dish.

Warm Winter Salad

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 large fennel bulb, sliced thin
1 16 ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 lemon, zest and juice separated
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
Pinch of salt and pepper

Marinade for chicken:
2 lemons, juice
1/4 Cup olive oil
1 1/2 Tablespoons garam masala
Pinch of salt and pepper
4 chicken breasts

Helpful Equipment:
Mandoline Slicer (for fennel)

Directions:

1) For the chicken marinade, just whisk all the ingredients together and let the chicken marinate for at least 30 minutes. Then cook the chicken however you like. I prefer either grilling or in a cast iron skillet.

2) For the salad, make sure to slice the fennel really thin so you don't get a big bite of it.

3) To warm the salad, add oil to a skillet and heat over medium heat.

4) Add thyme leaves to oil and cook for a few seconds.

5) Toss in cauliflower and cook until hot and par-cooked, but not soft, about 3-4 minutes.

6) Add beans and fennel and toss to combine. Let cook for 30 seconds just to warm ingredients. Then season with salt and pepper.

7) Add lemon juice, zest, and parsley and toss again.

8) Serve with chicken or it's also great as a side with a dash of hot sauce.

The veggies for this salad are really simple. They also happen to be mostly white which is coincidence really.

Good Winter Ingredients

The only tricky veggie to prepare for this salad is the fennel. If you’ve never used fennel before, it has a pretty strong anise flavor. I love it, but because the flavor is so strong it’s best to slice it really thin when you prepare it.

When you’re preparing it, slice off the green stalks, then slice the bulb in half vertically. There will be a core in the bulb that isn’t as tasty as the outer layers of the bulb. You should be able to just kind of rip it out.

Then slice the fennel as thinly as possible. You can use a sharp knife for this but if you have a mandoline, it’ll make really short work of it.

Steady hand...

Marinating the chicken

I decided to serve this salad with some marinated chicken. The marinade I used is really simple. It has a lot of citrus flavor to it and the garam masala gives it a nice subtle spice.

Just whisk all the marinade ingredients together and then marinate your chicken for about 30 minutes. You can do longer if you want, but 30 minutes should do the trick.

A simple marinade.

Cooking the chicken

I think ideally, you would grill the chicken. But on this given night it was particularly cold here so I didn’t feel like lighting up the grill.

I just cooked mine in my cast iron skillet, cooking it over medium-high heat for about 7 or 8 minutes per side. If you have really thick breasts, you might need to finish them in a 350 degree oven to make sure they are cooked all the way through.

Again though, the chicken is optional. The salad works great as a side dish also.

Warming the salad

To make the salad, start by getting your oil hot over medium heat. Then add your thyme leaves to the oil.

Let them cook for a few seconds, just until they become fragrant.

Don't burn it!

Then toss in the cauliflower. Stir the cauliflower to make sure it’s coated in oil. Cook the cauliflower until it’s warmed but not completely soft.

I cooked mine for 3-4 minutes.

Then add the fennel and beans and toss everything to combine it well. Season it with salt and pepper.

Right before you’re ready to serve the salad, add the lemon juice, zest, and parsley to the warmed salad.

Don't overcook this!

The citrus flavors in the salad go great with the chicken, but I also ate the leftovers by themselves with a few dashes of hot sauce!

A great healthy dinner.

If you’re new to fennel, this is a great dish to try it out. All the other ingredients are pretty easy to prepare and it takes just a few minutes to pull everything together.

This completely worked for a salad fix for me. It’s packed with veggies, but still warm and hearty which is what I want in a winter dish.

I hate to admit it, but I was kind of at a loss as to what to make.

Then I got a wonderful email from a reader (Hi Yasmin!) about The Grilled Cheese Academy (WARNING: Has sound). The site features 30 ridiculously delicious looking grilled cheese sandwiches. I couldn’t even pick one so I just went over to Random.org and picked one randomly.

The one I picked? #1. The Sergeant Pepper (Has Sound). I suggest clicking that link so you can see how delicious this sandwich looks. I should’ve known not to trust something that looks that delicious.

You want to see what the sandwich looks like when a real human makes it?!

No.

This sandwich was an absolute disaster. Whoever came up with this had to be high on something (and maybe that’s what warranted The Beatles reference?). The sandwich has bread, two kinds of cheese, sauteed cauliflower, and fried onions.

When I forced Betsy to eat hers she took a big bite (she’s a trooper) and said, “This is just weird.” And that’s pretty much right. It wasn’t exactly bad. It was just really weird.

I think this was one of those cases where, in my opinion, the meal would have been a lot better with its pieces. So definitely make the onion strings, and saute some cauliflower if you choose, and by all means make a grilled cheese with two different kinds of cheese.

But do not. Under any circumstances. Put them all together.

The Onion Strings. I don’t really care to share this whole recipe with you all except I will tell you about the good part which was the onion strings.

Spicy Onion Strings

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 large yellow onions
1 Cup all-purpose flour
1 Cup rice flour
1/4 Cup cornstarch
2 Cups seltzer water (if I made this again, I would use beer)
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon black pepper
1 Teaspoon (or more) cayenne pepper
1-2 quarts oil for cooking

Helpful Equipment:
Deep fry thermometer

Directions:

1) Slice onions thinly with a mandoline.

2) Mix batter ingredients together in a large bowl.

3) Heat up frying station and heat oil to 350 degrees.

4) Toss onions with spicy batter and then dip straight in the fryer. Cook for 3-4 minutes until they are very crispy. Work in batches as you fry.

5) Eat immediately!

You can definitely use a sharp knife to try to cut your onions as thin as possible (which I did for my deep fry party last year) or you can pick up a reasonably cheap mandoline and have it do all the work for you.

Use the guard people.

The only thing I will say about this device if you’ve never used one is that it’s pretty dangerous. It’s basically a huge razor set in plastic that you can slide things over very quickly. It comes with a guard which you will be tempted to throw away. Under no circumstances would I recommend using this thing without the guard.

I once saw a dude slice off all of the tips of his fingers in one swipe by not using the guard. So use the guard if you’re going to use one of these creatures.

The good news is that if you can master it, it’ll make short work of a lot of onions.

Beautiful.

The Batter

Once you get your onions sliced you just need to mix up a quick batter for the onions rings. The only thing I’d change about this recipe I think is I’d use a light beer instead of seltzer water if I made it again. Other than that it was pretty tasty.

Not bad.

Just whisk together all the batter ingredients and toss in all your onions. You’re looking for lightly coated onions here. They are pretty thin so you don’t want a lot of cakey breading.

Everyone in the pool.

Frying the Onions

Heat 4 or 5 inches of oil in a pot to about 350 degrees. I recommend using a neutral oil like Canola oil and also using a Deep fry thermometer so you can control the temperature.

Do these in batches so they don’t all clump together (although they kind of will no matter what) and they should take about 3 to 4 minutes to be cooked. Move them straight to a paper towel to drain. These will be super-crispy and delicious.

Best part of the meal.

The Nightmare Part

I just want to quickly show you how ridiculous this sandwich was. For starters, I sauteed some cauliflower in butter which was fine and it tasted great just like this.

Tastes great by itself!

But then the recipe instructed me to put pepper jack cheese and the cauliflower on some bread. So far so good.

Cheese and Cauliflower

The next step is when it kind of just got crazy. I piled on the fried onions and then another layer of cheese, this time cheddar.

This is wrong.

I cooked it just like a normal grilled cheese, but it was a messy disaster in the pan. It was kind of a disaster on the plate also.

No thanks.

Just for the sake of being thorough, I’ll grade this monstrosity like I have the other sandwiches in the grilled cheese trials.

Cheesiness: 8. There was a lot of cheese in this sandwich actually. In fact, the sandwich would’ve been better with just the cheese.
Bread: 6. There was so much stuff in this sandwich that the bread couldn’t really hold up to it. And I make some sturdy bread people.
Fillings: 2. I have no words for the strangeness of flavors that these fillings created.
Overall: 4. I can imagine a worse grilled cheese. It was at least cheesy, but this is a pretty prime example of over-thinking a good thing.

In summary, make the onion strings and pass on the sandwich.

As a bonus challenge, if anyone can reproduce the sandwich exactly as it looks on the Grilled Cheese Academy with real food (I have my suspicions about their version…) and send me a photo of it, you would win my un-dying respect.

But veggies, of course, don’t have to be flavorless! Take cauliflower for example. Cauliflower is one of the many veggies that can take on totally different flavors depending on how it’s cooked and what it’s served with. Served raw, it’s crunchy and healthy. Steam it with some butter and it’s rich and smooth. I’ve even served it curried with kale before.

But if you roast cauliflower and lightly coat it with balsamic vinegar and Parmesan cheese. Well, now you’re in a whole different world. I think this is the kind of dish that can bridge the gap between veggie-hater and veggie-lover.

Sweeter than I was expecting!

For starters, this dish is jam packed with flavors. It’s a great side dish for any number of meals and goes great with a glass of red wine. It has the added bonus of being completely idiot proof.

Roasted Cauliflower with Balsamic and Parm

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 large head cauliflower, cut into 1 inch florets
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Teaspoon dried marjoram
Pinch of salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons balsamic Vinegar
1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese (divided in half)

Directions:

1) Prep your cauliflower by cutting off the green parts and then chopping the vegetable into florets. Try to get them evenly sized.

2) Toss the cauliflower florets with olive oil, salt and pepper, and dried marjoram.

3) Lay your seasoned cauliflower onto a baking sheet. Spread them out so they are in an even layer.

4) Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, turning once halfway through.

5) Add cauliflower back to the bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of balsamic and half of the Parmesan cheese.

6) Add back to the baking sheet and bake for another 5 minutes.

7) Serve sprinkled with leftover Parmesan cheese.

Adapted from Eating Well in Season.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Prepping the Cauliflower

The hardest part about this dish is prepping the cauliflower and that’s just because it’s kind of a messy veggie.

Pretty.

Start off by chopping off all the green parts around the outside. Then start working from the outside in, chopping florets off. The problem with cauliflower is that when you chop off a floret, very tiny pieces will fly all over the place. It helps if you have a large cutting board.

Try to get all the florets to be roughly the same size so they cook evenly. You will have to cut some in half and possibly cut some into quarters.

Even is important

Next, toss the cauliflower with the olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper, and the dried marjoram. I don’t really use marjoram that much but it has a nice light citrus flavor. Goes great with the cauliflower.

I don't use this stuff very much.

Make sure to get your cauliflower evenly coated with all the spices and oil and everything.

Not rocket science.

Marjoram freckles!

Roasting

Lay all your oiled and seasoned cauliflower out on a metal baking pan. Spread out the florets to give them plenty of room. It’s okay if they are touching a bit, but spread them out as much as possible.

Bake them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, turning once halfway through.

Browned food tastes good!

After 20 minutes of roasting, you’ll need these very flavor-packed items:

Flavor town.

After your cauliflower roasts for 20 minutes it should be softer, but have some browned edges. Add it all back to your bowl and toss in 2 Tablespoons of balsamic. Be careful not to overdo it or it will really overpower the other flavors.

Also add half of your Parmesan to the bowl and toss everything together. Then return the cauliflower to the sheet pan and stick it back in the oven for another five minutes or so.

It’s done when the liquid is evaporated. The florets will have almost a glaze on them. So very delicious.

Nice.

I served this side family style. Just kind of let people help themselves! Before serving it, top it off with the other half of the Parm cheese.

Don't forget the extra parm!

The extra Parm may not be completely necessary if you’re watching your diet or something, but it adds a lot flavor.

This is definitely a meat lover’s veggie dish. It’s packed full of flavor and the bonus is that it’s also very easy to make.

I’ve had cauliflower soup before in a curry form, but this recipe looked really interesting. Instead of spices the soup is flavored with heavy cream and chunks of Stilton cheese. I loved it!

Look but delicious.

Homemade croutons add some much needed texture to this dish.

Cauliflower Stilton Soup

Yield: Serves 3-4.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 head of cauliflower (about 2 1/2 Cups) cut into florets
4 Tablespoons butter
2 Cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
1 Cup whole milk
1/3 Cup Stilton cheese
1/2 Cup cream or half and half
Pinch of salt and pepper
Garnishes: Croutons and Stilton Cheese

Helpful Equipment:
Immersion blender (or a normal blender)

Directions:

1) Chop the onion and celery.

2) Trim the greens off the cauliflower and slice into florets. Cut some of the florets in half.

3) In a large heavy pan, melt butter and then add onions, celery and cauliflower. Let this cook for 5-10 minutes over high heat until everything starts to soften.

4) After veggies have cooked for about 10 minutes and are soft, add the stock and milk and a small pinch of salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a simmer and then cook, covered, for about 25 minutes or until the cauliflower is extremely tender.

5) Take the soup off the heat and blend it with immersion blender (or regular blender if you do not have an immersion one).

6) To make croutons, take old bread and chop up a piece or two of it. Toss the bread with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Toast at 350 degrees until they are very brown and crunchy.

Adapted from Gourmet Today.

Starting the soup

This soup is actually very easy to make. It only has a bit of work to do and start to finish I’d say it takes about an hour. First, you’ll need these things:

Just a few veggies.

Chop up the onion and celery. No need to get too worried about size considering we are going to blend everything up later. On the cauliflower, trim off the greens and cut down the stalk and then slice it into florets. Some of the florets should be cut in half. Again, don’t worry about getting them perfectly even.

Don't worry too much about uniform chopping.

In a large heavy pan, melt your butter and then add your onions, celery and cauliflower. Let this cook for 5-10 minutes over high heat until everything starts to soften. It’s fine if some of the veggies start to brown a bit, but the goal is just to soften them, not caramelize them.

A little browning is okay.

Besides the veggies and butter, you’ll need this stuff:

Plus these things!

After your veggies have cooked for about 10 minutes and are soft, add the stock and milk and a small pinch of salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a simmer and then cook, covered, for about 25 minutes or until the cauliflower is extremely tender.

Next, take the soup off the heat and blend it up! If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can just do it in batches in a normal one.

Merry Christmas to ME.

Making the croutons

Good croutons add a lot to this soup. The crunchy, salty bites work great with the creamy soup and cheese. I used old bread and just chopped up a piece or two of it and tossed the bread with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt.

Good use for leftover bread.

Toast these in a 350 degree oven until they are very brown and crunchy. You can use any bread for these really. Stale bread is just fine!

Nice and crispy.

Finishing the soup

Once your soup is blended, return it to the pan and heat. Once it’s hot, whisk in your cream and Stilton cheese. Be sure to whisk well so the cheese melts nicely. The soup should get pretty creamy and then just let it simmer for another five minutes or so (still whisking). That will help it thicken more.

I also crumbled some additional cheese to add as a garnish for the soup.

More mild than blue cheese.

Be sure to taste the soup for salt and pepper before serving. The cheese will add some saltiness to the soup, but I definitely had to hit mine with a good pinch of salt. I also served mine with additional toasts on the side. They’re awesome to dip in the soup.

Mmmm.

The thing that shocked me about this soup is how perfect the stilton works. It’s not quite as strong as a gorganzola or traditional blue cheese so it doesn’t overpower the cauliflower flavor at all. It just adds a nice creaminess to it and the croutons are almost swoon-worthy.

I’m pretty sure that this soup reheats awesomely, but I can’t say for sure because I’m eating my first bowl of it while writing this post…

This time just to kick it up a notch, I served it with some freshly made scallion flat bread.

Sorry for the steam...

This dish is fantastic because it’s fairly fast to make (especially if you opt-out on the flat bread), but it’s still packed with flavor and is very healthy. You could also call this dish a curried lentil dish, because it does have a lot of lentils, but in my mind the cauliflower and kale is kind of the star of the whole deal.

Plus I’m a big fan of recipe alliteration.

Curried Cauliflower and Kale

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour + plus bread rest time

Ingredients:

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into 1/2 inch florets
1 bunch of kale, cut into ribbons, probably 2-3 cups
1/2 red onion, minced
1 1/2 Cups lentils
2 Tablespoons oil
2 Tablespoons curry powder (or to your tastes)
1/2 Tablespoon paprika (I like hot spanish paprika)
1/2 Tablespoon whole coriander seeds (lightly toasted and ground), or you can use ground coriander
Pinch of salt

Flat Bread Recipe (Recipe from Once Upon a Plate)
9 ounces (about 2 cups) all-purpose flour
1/2 Teaspoon salt
2 Teaspoons sugar
1 Cup whole milk
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Scallions, diced (optional)

Helpful Equipment:
Pizza stone and peel (for the bread)

Directions:

1) For dough, combine flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Add oil and then slowly add milk until dough comes together in a ball.

2) Knead it on a lightly floured surface for about 8 minutes until it is soft and smooth.

3) Add ball of dough to a lightly oiled bowl and give it a turn to coat the ball. Cover it loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for an hour or so.

4) Cut up the cauliflower (cut off all of the greens around the stalk and then just start working through the head of cauliflower, cutting off each floret evenly).

5) Cut the kale into small ribbons. Take each leaf of kale and, using a knife, cut out the center vein which is very hard, leaving two leaves which you can then cut into kale ribbons.

6) Once dough has rested, cut it into 5 even pieces.

7) Heat pizza stone in a 500 degree oven (if you have a broiler, use that).

8) Roll out each piece of dough until it’s very thin and then top it with some diced scallion. Slide the naan off peel and onto stone and let it cook for 3-5 minutes depending on your oven. If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can bake these just on a normal sheet pan. They’ll still be good, but probably just not as crunchy on the exterior.
9) Cook lentils according to the package directions (Most likely this means adding 2 cups of water for every cup of lentils into a large pot and getting it boiling) adding spices half way through the cooking process.

10) Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large pan and add cauliflower. Cook florets over medium-high heat for about 10-15 minutes until the florets start to brown a bit.

11) Add onions and cook them until they are translucent – probably another 5 minutes.

12) Add kale along with a pinch of salt. Cook this for just a few more minutes until the kale starts to wilt.

13) Add all veggies to the lentil pot and stir everything together and season with other spices.

14) Stir it well and let it sit for a minute or two just to let all the flavors mingle.

15) Serve it up next to the flat bread!

Starting the Flat Bread

Also known as naan, this stuff is usually made in a tandoori which is essentially a large clay pot that can get really hot. Unless you happen to have one of these guys laying around, your best bet is probably a pizza stone to get close to the right texture on the bread (crusty exterior while still moist on the inside).

The dough is really simple to make.

Basic stuff.

Start by combining your flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Add your oil and then slowly add your milk until your dough comes together in a ball. Knead it on a lightly floured surface for about 8 minutes until it is soft and smooth.

Then add your ball of dough to a lightly oiled bowl and give it a turn to coat the ball. Cover it loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for an hour or so.

This needs time to rest.

Prepping the veggies

You only need a few veggies for this dish but each of them is very flavorful.

Good winter ingredients.

If you’ve never dismantled a head of cauliflower, it’s a lot like a huge mutant broccoli floret. First, cut off all of the greens around the stalk (you can save these for stock if you want) and then just start working through the head of cauliflower, cutting off each floret.

The most important thing is to make sure you have evenly sized pieces so they cook evenly. This will mean that you’ll have to half or quarter some florets and probably leave some of the smaller ones whole.

Mutant broccoli!

Onto the kale. Normally, I would steam kale, but I actually add it straight to this dish without precooking it. To make this easier, cut the kale into small ribbons.

Take each leaf of kale and, using a knife, cut out the center vein which is very hard, leaving two leaves which you can then cut into kale ribbons. This is the final spread of veggies.

Veggies prepped.

You’ll also need some spices obviously. I just used store bought curry powder, but if you wanted to go crazy you could definitely make your own. For the purposes of this dish, I thought the jarred spice worked great.

You could make your own curry if you are awesome.

Cooking the naan

Once your dough has rested, cut it into 5 even pieces. You could actually cut it into smaller pieces if you want. If you are feeding more than 4 though, I’d recommend doubling the recipe because this stuff is popular.

You could go smaller if you wanted.

Heat your pizza stone in a 500 degree oven. Actually heat it as hot as you can and if you have a broiler you could even use that to get higher heats like in the tandoori oven.

Roll out each piece of dough until it’s very thin and then top it with some diced scallion.

Nice.

Slide the naan off your peel and onto your stone and let it cook for 3-5 minutes depending on your oven. If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can bake these just on a normal sheet pan. They’ll still be good, but probably just not as crunchy on the exterior.

Cooking the veggies

The first thing you want to do is start your lentils. Just cook them according to the directions on the package. Most likely this means adding 2 cups of water for every cup of lentils into a large pot and getting it boiling.

After doing this a few times though, I actually added a bit more liquid than recommended because you need to use a large pot so you can eventually combine all your ingredients and cooking the lentils in the larger pot makes the water evaporate faster.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large pan and add your cauliflower. Cook your florets over medium-high heat for about 10-15 minutes until the florets start to brown a bit.

Then add your onions and cook them until they are translucent – probably another 5 minutes.

Finally add your kale along with a pinch of salt. Cook this for just a few more minutes until the kale starts to wilt.

Don't overcook the kale.

Adding the spices

The few times I’ve made this dish, I’ve tried adding my spices at various points either to the lentils or to the veggies. I think it’s easiest to add all the spices to the lentils as they cook. I add mine to the water about halfway through the cooking process. Then when the lentils are done cooking and are soft, add all your veggies to the lentil pot and stir everything together.

Stir it well and let it sit for a minute or two just to let all the flavors mingle. Then serve it up next to the flat bread!

Not the most colorful, but very tasty.

This is a pretty flexible meal. You could add different toppings to the flat bread (any kind of seed, cilantro, garlic, etc). You could add more or less spices depending on your preference. You could eat the curried veggies in a pita as a lunch sandwich.

This dish passed the Jeff Test which is the standard test I use for most vegetarian dishes. It’s pretty simple to see why: It’s healthy. It’s packed with flavor. And it’s reasonably fast if you can chop and cook at the same time. What more could you ask for in a winter dinner?!

If you haven’t tried the cheese sauce that I made for the Mr. Crunchy recipe, here is yet another reason to master the Roux, milk, cheese sauce. It makes an absolutely perfect baked macaroni and cheese. In fact you can even use the exact same cheeses that I used in the sandwich. (Yea leftovers!)

The recipe I used for the above photo was from a Bon Appétit which means that it has a lot of ingredients. Sometimes BA tries to slam as many ingredients into a dish as possible. Meanwhile, there I am at the store pulling my hair out. Things like: This recipe originally called for “heirloom tomatoes.” While I love those things, they are expensive and you put so much cheese and other stuff in this dish, why would you need those?

Cauliflower Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Time: 40 minutes + 40 minutes baking time

Veggies
- 1 Full head of cauliflower, cut into flourets
- 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
Cheese Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 5 Tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 cups good cheese (I used Gruyere, some swiss, maybe a bit of cheddar.) You don’t want to use all cheddar or cheeses that won’t melt well.
- 1/2 cup Parmesan
- 1 cup Sour cream (or Greek Yogurt. The original calls for Creme fraiche which is nice if you can get it).
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard (opt.)
Other stuff you need
- 10 ounces penne
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- Salt

1) Boil your cut up cauliflower in a large pot of salted water for 5 minutes, until tender but still crisp. Pull out your cauliflower, but keep the water to make the pasta in!
2) Melt 2 TBSP. butter in large sauté pan. Sauté cauliflower for five minutes. Add tomatoes and onions. Cook for 1 minute just to combine all the yummy flavors.
3) In a separate pan, make your Roux by melting 2 TBSP. butter and whisking in 2 TBSP. flour. Cook for a few minutes and then slowly add in your cream. The mixture will thicken pretty quickly.
4) Add your cheese slowly until it is all melted, then sour cream, 1/2 of your Parm, and mustard. Season with Salt and pepper and remove from heat once it is thick and cheesy and awesome.
5) Cook your pasta in the cauliflower water. Drain the water.
6) Add your cauliflower mixture to the pasta and pour sauce over it. Combine well.
7) Pour into a buttered 13X9 baking dish.
8 ) Top with breadcrumbs and the rest of your Parm.
9) Bake at 350 for 40 minutes until golden brown.

It will be incredibly hard, but let this cool before you jump in. This dish is not the easiest that I’ve made on this site, but if you take things one piece at a time, it is very doable.

Have questions about any part of this? Leave a comment or send me an email!