This vegetarian dish can be enjoyed by anyone. It is filling, nourishing and flavorful. Cauliflower can be such a tricky veggie to enjoy sometimes but these cauliflower steaks, when cooked right, can really offer a delightful replacement for meat to your meal.
The cauliflower is an extraordinary vegetable. High in fiber, B-vitamins and antioxidants, this cruciferous vegetable should definitely be considered a staple veggie at home. On top of all the health benefits, you can create a diverse array of dishes using this ingredient. From purees to pizza bases, cauliflower rice to cauli steaks. The sky is the limit.
Cauliflower steaks are quick and easy to make:
- Cut the cauliflower into 1 inch (2.5cm) thick slabs. Start from the top and slice down to the base with one fluid motion. Cauliflowers don’t put up much resistance when slicing but do crumble pretty easily. Don’t cut the entire core out of the cauliflower as this helps hold it together.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and in the mean time shallow fry the steaks in butter and oil. The great thing about this recipe is that you can leave out the butter which will make this dish entirely vegan friendly. However, in this recipe I used butter and oil purely for flavor purposes.
- Now add the crushed almonds to the pan and baste the butter/oil and almonds over the top of the cauliflower. The almonds will begin to toast and depending how hot your pan is they could burn easily. If you are finding that this is the case then lower the heat and begin removing the darker brown almonds with a spoon and leave them to one side as a topping for later.
- Take care when turning the cauliflower over as it can easily crumble. Once its flipped over baste the cauliflower with the oil/butter until both sides are equally golden brown.
- Be careful when lifting it onto the oven friendly tray, this is when everything can literally fall to pieces.
- Place the tray into the preheated oven and cook it for 5-7 more minutes. It should be soft when it comes out. Once again handle the steaks with care when plating.
- If you removed any almonds while frying, then sprinkle them over the cauliflower once you have plated. If there are some that have burnt then discard them entirely. Ultimately, how the almonds cook will depend on how small they where chopped and the heat of the pan.
- If you prefer you could toast the almonds separately giving you more control or alternatively leave them off the dish entirely. The choice is yours.
Cauliflower Steaks with Almonds
One of the best ways to make and eat a cauliflower steak while getting all the hearty nutrients!
Ingredients
- 1 head Cauliflower
- ¼ cup Almonds chopped
- 3 tbsp Butter
- 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
- ¾ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Black pepper
Instructions
- Remove the leaves of the cauliflower and cut it into equal sized steaks approximately 1 inch thick.
- Chop up the almonds or blitz them for 2 or 3 pulses in a food processor so they remain chunky.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While the oven preheats, heat up a frying pan on medium heat. Add in the oil and butter. Once the butter has melted add a cauliflower steak to the pan (depending on the size of your pan will determine how many you can cook at a time). Let it shallow fry, after about 2 minutes, use a spatula to lift it slightly and take a look at the color. Once the cauliflower has turned golden brown use the spatula to flip the steak over to the other side.
- Add the crushed almonds to the pan and let them toast while cooking the cauliflower.
- With a tablespoon baste the cauliflower with the butter/oil and almonds for another 2 minutes until the almonds are completely toasted and the cauliflower looks beautifully caramelized.
- With the spatula remove the cauliflower steak from the pan and place it on an oven friendly tray. Now repeat the process until you have shallow fried all the steaks.
- Once you have completed shallow frying and placed the cauliflower steaks onto an oven friendly dish then place it in the oven for another 5 minutes to finish cooking completely.
- Strain the almonds out of the butter/oil for later use.
- Remove the steaks from the oven and sprinkle the almond bits over all of the steaks.
