Cauliflower Steaks?! Why I’ll Be….

As you can imagine, I get a lot of food coming across my laptop screen.  So many wonderful food bloggers out there and so little time.  The other day, a particular photo caught my eye.  Admittedly part of the reason it caught my eye is that cauliflower is an entry on Ms. Picky Pants list of acceptable foods.  There are, to date, approximately 30 items on said list, give or take a few for “I usually like it, but not today….”  So when a photo of a giant slice of cauliflower browned on both sides danced across my screen, I filed the title away for a night when Ms. Picky Pants needed to be mollified.  I do insist that she try new foods, but I do like to throw her a bone now and then. So “cauliflower steaks” got filed away for my daughter’s sake.

A few days ago at the market, cauliflower was on sale, and boy were they big and good looking.  I scooped one up and now, after several days of solid rejections of my culinary offerings, I decided to throw the kid a bone.  Cauliflower steaks it is.  Of course I wasn’t wise enough to pin, bookmark, or otherwise save the actual post that I was looking at, but a quick search took me to an authority on most things food, and so I took a look through Martha Stewart’s recipe, mimicked the technique, borrowed the flavor profile and, as usual, made it with the ingredients I had on hand instead of going out and buying the ingredients called for (if you’re new you may find this surprising).  I decided to make some barley on the side as I thought the kids would like it and it’s crazy filling, so if things went really awry there would be a little cauliflower, some barley, and some salad.  And leftover barley is not just a good thing… it’s a GREAT thing.  We’ll get to that later.

CAULIFLOWER STEAKS with CAPERED TOMATO SAUCE served 4 with leftovers

• 3 Tbs olive oil, divided
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced, divided
• large head cauliflower
• 4 Tbs capers
• 1 c diced tomatoes (or leftover tomato sauce)
• 1 large red pepper
• splash red wine vinegar
• fresh chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 400.  Wash the cauliflower and remove and remaining leaves.  Cut the end of the stem, but be sure to leave the core intact.  Cut cauliflower into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices – slice all the way across the cauliflower.  Don’t panic if some florets come off – simply set them aside with the small end pieces.  Warm 1 Tbsp olive oil in each of 2 pans.  Add 1 clove minced garlic into each pan.  When oil is warm, add cauliflower.  Sprinkle with a little salt.

Allow “steaks” to brown (don’t fuss with them too much).  When brown (at least, but not likely longer then 4-5 minutes), flip and brown the other side.  When both sides are brown, move to baking dish and transfer to oven and roast until tender (12-16 minutes). While the cauliflower roasts, add remaining Tbs olive oil to one pan.  While it warms, chop up the reserved florets/end pieces into small pieces.  Roughly chop red pepper.  Add the third minced clove of garlic into oil and add cauliflower.  Allow to cook for a couple of minutes. Add red pepper.  Add cauliflower. Add capers and tomatoes and simmer gently until vegetables are tender.  Add red wine vinegar when done.  Serve cauliflower steak with tomato sauce and fresh parsley.  Grin when neither child will eat the sauce.  Grin more when they both love it anyway – more sauce for you.  Delish.

Wondering about the barley?  I’ll let you know sometime after tomorrow morning…

This post was featured at

and here: