cauliflower

Spring Stir Fry with Cauliflower Rice

What can’t cauliflower rice do? I love it in this super simple stir fry. In this dish I actually use a mixture of coconut and olive oil. Feel free to choose just one, but I like the added richness the olive oil gives to the lighter coconut oil while the coconut oil keeps the olive oil from overheating.
Happy eating,
~Monique

Spring Cauliflower Rice Stir Fry

1 small shallot, sliced thin
1/2 tbsl coconut oil
1/2 tbls olive oil
1/2 cup frozen edamame
1/2 cup pea pods
2 cups kale
3/4 cup cauliflower rice
2 tsp liquid or coconut aminos
2 tsp sriracha
½ a lime, juiced
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 or 2 sliced green onions

Heat the oils in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the shallots and saute for a minute. Toss in the edamame and pea pods, let sit and saute until just getting golden on one side.

Add the kale and the cauliflower rice and toss well. Let cook, stirring often until the kale is wilted and the rice is warmed through. Add a 1/4 cup of water to deglaze the pan and soften the rice.

Stir in the liquid aminos, sriracha, lime juice, salt and pepper. Remove from heat and top with fresh green onions.

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Orange Ginger Gremolata

Food waste is a huge issue that makes me sad. We throw out so much food because it doesn’t look perfect or because we’ve somehow been lead to believe it isn’t edible. Take cauliflower leaves for instance. When was the last time you actually ate the leaves? …. um, did you know you can eat them?

Of course you can – they are leafy greens after all. Often I save my cauliflower cleanings for broth, like I do with all my veggie odds and ends (toss them in the freezer till you have a bag full, then simmer in water. Boom – veggie broth.) Today I decided to chop up the greens into a refreshing gremolata, which is an Italian condiment (read: basically a textured pesto). It’s classically made with olive oil, parsley and lemon zest, but I don’t always follow the rules.

Try the pesto, I mean the gremolata, on everything from steak to eggs. And certainly try it on this roasted cauliflower.

Happy Eating,
~Monique

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Orange Ginger Gremolata
2 thick cauliflower slices
1 tbls + 2 tbls olive oil
1/2 cup cauliflower leaves
1/2 cup parsley
1 garlic clove
1/2 tbls fresh minced ginger (go for 1 tbls if you like a lot of zing!)
1 blood orange – zested + half juiced and half peeled into segments
1/4 tsp aleppo or red pepper flakes
pink salt
fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place the cauliflower slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Carefully rub each side with the 1 tablespoon of olive oil and top salt and pepper.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until desired doneness is reached.

In the meantime make the gremolata (pesto). Simply finely chop the cauliflower leaves, parsley, garlic, ginger all the ingredients together and stir with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and the orange zest and juice (save the orange segments to top the steaks.)

Our use a mini processor to just pulse to combine, stopping short of making this too smooth.

Putting it all together. Spread a scoop or two of the gremolata over the roasted cauliflower. Top with the orange segments and toasted pine nuts. Enjoy hot or room temperature.

NOTE: the gremolata makes more than you will need for just 2 slices of cauliflower. Store the remaining in a glass container in the refrigerator for another use.

Beautiful spring cauliflower just waiting to be roasted.

Roasted & Spiced Cauliflower Soup

Is there anything cauliflower can’t do? I love the versatility of vegetable, but also don’t want to forget about the classics- like soup. Like this Roasted Cauliflower Soup.

This is a super easy recipe that is mostly hands off thanks to roasting the cauliflower with all the spices. Just pop it in the blender and it’s good to go. No onions or garlic either so it’s a great option for anyone following a FODMAP diet- but you could add them and roast with the cauliflower if you wanted to.

Happy Eats,

Monique

Roasted & Spiced Cauliflower Soup

1 head of cauliflower (roughly 5-6 cups )

1 tbls olive oil

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp pink Himalayan or sea salt

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp pepper

Juice of 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking pan with parchment paper.

Break the cauliflower into smaller florets and toss with the olive oil and all the seasonings. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until desired texture is reached.

Cool slightly and place in a blender along with the orange. Add a smidge of water as needed to blend.

NOTES: I really like this soup to have texture, so blend on a low speed to keep this more chunky and hearty. Blend on high if you want it more smooth.