Cauliflower Steak is becoming more common in restaurants as a vegetarian entree! It’s actually quite easy to make this elegant entree at home and it goes with an almost endless variety of sauces and accompaniments.
This version is serves with a creamy sweet potato gratin that plays nicely with the peppery sauce. The gratin is a layered sweet potato dish much like a lasagna, baked with a savory cashew cream, It takes a little doing to slice all those sweet potatoes, but it’s totally worth it!
The steak can be served with out the gratin and with almost any sauce you like.
For the cauliflower marinade, I used a spice (it’s a seed actually) called achiote, otherwise known as anatto. It’s great for color, and has a very mild flavor so if you can’t get your hands on it, don’t worry!
FOR THE SWEET POTATO GRATIN:
Serves 4
2-3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin in a food processor or on a mandoline
For the gratin “custard”:
2 cup cashews, soaked overnight to at least 2 hours and then rinsed
2 cup water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 Tablespoons tamari
Salt and pepper to taste
Blend until smooth in a blender.
For the “rawmesan” (optional):
1 Tablespoon salt
½ cup nutritional yeast
½ cup pumpkin seeds
Process all the ingredients together dry in a food processor.
To assemble the gratin:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Oil a 9×9 baking dish. Layer the slices of sweet potato and the “custard.” Top with the “rawmesan.”
Bake covered for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
Allow to cool for 20 minutes before slicing.
FOR THE CAULIFLOWER STEAKS:
Serves 4
2 large cauliflower
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Each head of cauliflower will only give you 2 steaks at the most due to the delicate structure of the heads. In my experience the best way to get a great cut on a cauliflower steak is to cut both sides off, leaving a thick 2” slab of cauliflower in the middle, and then carefully cut the slab in half to form your “steaks.”
Coat the steaks with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast uncovered in your oven for 15-20 minutes, turning once, until slightly golden and fork tender.
Remove from the oven and set aside until ready to use.
Heat a heavy bottomed skillet with a few Tablespoons of oil. Sear the cauliflower steaks at medium high heat for a minute or two. Turn the cauliflower steaks in the pan and add about 2-3 Tablespoons of the achiote marinade. Allow the sauce to get hot in the pan with the steaks, being careful not to burn it!
Serve the steaks with the gratin and your favorite tomato sauce, like Rao’s Organic Tomato sauce.
For the garlic-achiote marinade:
5/8 cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons achiote powder*
7 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 Tablespoon cumin
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Blend everything in a blender until smooth. Refrigerate after using. This will keep for 2 weeks.
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