Grilled Cauliflower Steaks Recipe

I had some leftover homemade barbecue sauce from a batch that I made to go along with some baked kidney bean and rice balls (coming soon to the blog). And since I had my eye on these scrumptious looking cauliflower "steaks" ever since I received a copy of Fuss-Free Vegan by Sam Turnbull, I had just enough barbecue sauce left to try them. I'm glad that I did! They are truly addictive.

 Roasted in a flour and cornmeal batter to give the "steaks" a lightly crunchy texture and then brushed with the barbecue sauce, they rather reminded me of the roasted cauliflower bites with sriracha sauce that I am especially fond of, serving them up on more than one occasion. If you wish, you can make this recipe by cutting the cauliflower into smaller bites, rather than the large pieces that I tried and quite enjoyed. Either way, you are in for a treat. They are surprising filling and can be served as an appetizer, especially if cut into smaller bites, or as a side for any number of meals.


Ingredients:

• 1 medium cauliflower
• 1 cup almond milk or other non-dairy milk
• 3/4 cup spelt flour or unbleached white flour
• 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
• 1/3 cup vegan barbecue sauce or more as desired, for brushing the cauliflower
• dried oregano, for garnish

Instructions:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat an oven to 450°.
• Leave the leaves and stem on the cauliflower and cut into 1-inch thick slices, resulting in about 5 to 6 large steaks. Remove the leaves and the ends of the stems. Any florets that fall off can be thrown into the batter.
• In a large casserole dish, whisk together all of the ingredients except the barbecue sauce and oregano until you have a thick batter. Gently dip and coat the cauliflower steaks into mixture, making sure to coat both sides. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet along with any smaller ones that have been tossed into the batter.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cauliflower is fork tender and the batter turns golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush the tops and sides generously with the barbecue sauce. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. The barbecue sauce should be sticky and just beginning to blacken a bit on the edges.
• Gently remove from the parchment paper, garnish with a scattering of dried oregano, and serve hot.

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