veggie main

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.