The perfect cauliflower steak is tender to the bite, with crisp, golden brown florets. This recipe by America’s Test Kitchen nails down the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of this quintessential cauli recipe.
Hello everyone! How was your weekend?
Everyone was in a frenzy over here thanks to the surprise treat of sunshine mother nature had in store for us usually unlucky Torontonians. Inspired by the weather, I scurried home to Hamilton to visit my parents and dog where the hiking trails grow on trees.
Of course, with weekends, and the whole ‘always hungry’ thing, there was some cooking involved. I was super excited when Americas Test Kitchen sent me their first ever VEGAN cookbook, named VEGAN FOR EVERYBODY to get my plant-loving paws on!
This cookbook! 😍’ Vegan For Everybody’ is jammed with stunning pictures, tried + tested cooking methods, how-to’s, inspiration, and best of all vegan kitchen hacks, to give you a leg up in the kitchen.
I don’t know about you guys, but when a team of mad scientist/veggie-armed chefs develop recipes, sometimes upwards of (80!!!) times, I wanna hear about it.
Whether you are diving deep into the plant-based lifestyle or dipping your toes into eating a few more plants- this book has your tastebuds covered. Everything from their velvety fettucine alfredo pasta, to their slew of umami-bomb stir-frys’ will inspire you to expect more from your vegan eats. Don’t even get me started on the ‘stir frys, curries and noodles section.
About these cauliflower steaks…
The recipe immediately caught my eye balls as a must-make. Cauliflower steaks are one of the most versatile veggie sides or mains- and yettttttttt- I had yet to master them! Last time I sliced up a couple of cauli’s I swear they came out dry, funky, and all around not worthy of a bangin’ sauce.
Lucky for us, ATK did the legwork to sort out how to get your steaks perfectly crispy on the outside + tender on the inside:
1) Covering your rimmed baking sheet for the first 5 mins of the cook time gently steams the cauliflower, so it has a chance to cook thoroughly on the inside.
2) Baking the steaks on the lowest rack at a high temperature for the remainder of the cook time gives the bottoms a crisp golden hue- aka yum.
The salsa verde? Well a cauliflower steak cooked with this much love needed something equally special to grace its crispy tree-like edges. Pulse it up in the food processor (or simply finely chop) and you have yourself a pretty sophisticated pair.
I hope you love this method for cooking the perfect cauliflower steak, and give VEGAN FOR EVERYBODY a look-see for more stellar recipes!
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups fresh parsley leaves
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp capers
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- salt and pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 500 F. In a food processor, add the parsley, mint, oil, water, vinegar, capers, and garlic. Season with salt. Pulse the mixture until it is roughly chopped but not smooth, about 10 pulses. Transfer the salsa verde to a small bowl and set aside. (can be made the day ahead)
- Discard the outer leaves of the cauliflower and trim stem flush with bottom florets. Cut 4, 1½ inch-thick slabs lengthwise, trimming any florets not connected to core. Reserve the remaining cauliflower florets for another use (or toss them on the sheet like I did)
- Place the cauliflower steaks on foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper and rub the steaks on both sides.
- Cover baking sheet tightly with foil and roast for 5 minutes. Remove foil and roast until bottoms of steaks are well browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Gently flip and continue to roast until tender until both sides are well browned, about 6 to 8 more minutes.
- Plate the cauliflower steaks and spoon the salsa verde overtop. Enjoy!
I’m intimidated by cauliflower! I admit it. The colors and presentation of this are so amazing tho I am going to suck in my breath and give it a try!-Laurel Bledsoe
Thanks Laurel 🙂 (ps I love your name!) I was discouraged my first time when my cauli steaks turned out soggy and not pleasantly crisp as they should. This breakdown takes out most of the guess work though. Let me know if you give it a try! -Meredith
LOVE cauliflower steaks! And that salsa verde. Nom nom n|
Yeah something about the word steak makes them that much more desirable. Can’t wait for grilling season to char them up a bit 😉
Oh gosh this just looks insane! yumm
Thanks Cara! Hope you had an awesome weeeekend!
I love cauliflower! This recipe is mouth-watering! Thanks a bunch for the idea, Meredith!
Is there anything cauli cant do? Thanks so much Agness :)!
This looks absolutely amazing, and I MUST get my hands on this cook book by ATC…i love that team so much!! Thank you so much for commenting on my post; i’ve found your beautiful blog and am now in love 🙂
xx
Hi Heidi, thank you so much for the wonderful kind words 🙂 Clearly the feeling is mutual, so inspired by your inventive recipes and stunning photography. Have a wonderful week!