Midweek Meals: 5 unlikely ways to spice up the humble cauliflower

Including a recipe from cult-favourite Hollywood hard-man Danny Trejo(!), and a foolproof vegan tray-bake

Pic: iStock

Cauliflower and cashew pilaf tray bake recipe

recipe by:Ella Mills

Try this colourful vegan tray bake to help put the spring in your step

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 50 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• 1 onion, finely sliced

• 1 cauliflower, tough outer leaves discarded, cut into florets

• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1½ tbsp coconut oil, melted

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• ½ tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 50g cashews, roughly chopped

• 40g sultanas

• 250g white basmati rice, rinsed and drained

• 200g green beans, trimmed and cut into 4–5cm lengths

• 500ml hot vegetable stock

• 1 lemon, halved

• Small handful of coriander, roughly chopped

• Harissa, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.

2. Put the onion, cauliflower, ginger and garlic into a large roasting tin. Add the coconut oil, cinnamon, bay leaves, cumin, turmeric, coriander and cashews. Mix everything until well combined and spread out in a single, even layer.

3. Place the tray in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the onion and cauliflower have taken on a little colour.

4. Take the tray out and add the sultanas, rice and green beans. Stir them through the veg, then spread everything out in an even layer. Pour over the hot stock.

5. Cover the tray with foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cauliflower and rice are tender. Season and add a squeeze of lemon juice to taste, then serve with a generous sprinkling of coriander, and a drizzle of harissa, if you like.

Puff Pastry with Roasted Cauliflower, Cashel Blue Cheese and Beetroot

recipe by:Orla McAndrew

You can use roast broccoli or any blue cheese in this recipe. Brie would also work really well with some cranberry sauce.

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Starter

Ingredients

• 1 sheet puff pastry

• 1 egg beaten

• ¼ head roasted cauliflower

• 50g Cashel blue cheese

• 50 g creme fraiche

• ½ cooked beetroot

• Small bunch mint to garnish

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C.

2. Cut the puff pastry into rectangles and brush with beaten egg. Place on a lined baking sheet and cook for 15-20 minutes until golden in colour and fully risen.

3. Meanwhile, take some tips off the cauliflower and place the rest in a blender with the Cashel blue cheese and creme fraiche.

4. Place contents in a piping bag if you have one.

5. Finely dice the cooked beetroot.

6. Once the pastry has cooled, pipe out some of the cauliflower mixture along the top. Place the charred pieces of cauliflower along the top and dot some diced beetroot on top. Sprinkle with mint and serve immediately.

Roast Cauliflower with Tahini and Zhug

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

Have this as a vegetarian main course or serve it with my Harissa Chicken or any other of my Middle Eastern dishes - you will find all of those recipes on ieFood!

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 25 mins

Cooking Time

 50 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Middle Eastern

Ingredients

• Cauliflower

• 1 head of cauliflower

• 2 tbsp Olive oil

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1 tsp sumac

• Juice of half a lemon

• Flaky sea salt to season

• 6-8 cherry tomatoes

• Tahini sauce

• 125g tahini

• 3 cloves garlic

• 50 ml of fresh lemon juice

• Pinch of sea salt

• Pinch of ground cumin

• 1 tsp honey

• 1-2 ice cubes

• Zhug

• 2 green chillies

• 2 cloves garlic

• ¼ tsp ground cumin

• ¼ tsp ground coriander

• ¼ tsp salt

• Juice of half a lemon

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• To serve

• Fresh chopped coriander and/or flat leaf parsley

• Fresh pomegranate seeds

Method

1. Trim all the leaves from the cauliflower and cut away the bottom of the stalk to leave a flat base. Wash and dry the cauliflower and stand it on a microwave prove plate or dish. Mix together the cumin, coriander and sumac. Drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil over the cauliflower, using a pastry brush to work it in and cover as much of the surface as possible. Squeeze over the juice of half a lemon and scatter the mixed spices over the surface of the cauliflower, spreading them as evenly as possible.

2. Microwave on full power for twelve minutes. Check to see if the cauliflower is cooked through by sliding a skewer or small sharp knife into the centre. If the knife slides though easily, it is done. This will obviously depend upon the size of the head of cauliflower, so if it needs more time, pop it back in into the microwave for another three minutes and then check it again.

3. Once it is done in the microwave, drizzle over another tablespoon of olive oil, and sprinkle over some flaky sea salt. Transfer the cauliflower to an air fryer or preheated oven and roast it at 180 Celsius for twenty or until it is golden and toasted all over. This will take a little longer in an oven than in an air fryer; you will need to allow thirty minutes if using an oven.

4. While the cauliflower is roasting, make your sauces.

5. To make the tahini sauce, peel and roughly chop the garlic. Add that and the lemon juice to a blender and blitz for a minute. Next, add the tahini, cumin, coriander, and salt and blitz to combine everything well. At this stage you will likely find that the tahini seizes up and the mixture is very thick. Add an ice cube or two and blitz them in. If the sauce is still a little thick, you can add a few tablespoons of cold water and blitz that in until you have a very creamy, smooth sauce with a easy pouring consistency.

6. To make the zhuk, wash and remove the tops of the chillies. I like my chilli sauce to have some punch, so I leave the stalks and seeds in the chillies. Discard those if you want a milder sauce. Roughly chop the chillies and put them into a small food processor or blender, I use my Nutribullet for this which works perfectly for portions of this size. Peel and roughly chop the garlic, and add to the blender. Wash and add the herbs, along with the spices, salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Blitz to a smooth sauce and set aside.

7. When the cauliflower is almost done, roast the cherry tomatoes in the air fryer or oven on a separate tray until they are soft and just about popping out of their skins. They will need about five minutes to roast perfectly.

8. When the Cauliflower is roasted and golden all over, remove it from the roasting dish and place it on a serving platter. Roughly chop some fresh coriander or flat leaf parsley and prepare some fresh pomegranate seeds. Arrange the roasted tomatoes around the base of the cauliflower. Spoon generous amounts of the tahini sauce over the top of the cauliflower. Now spoon over some of the zhug. Add lots of pomegranate seeds and finish with the fresh chopped herbs.

Anna Jones’s pan-roasted cauliflower with saffron butter

Adding vinegar to vegetables enhances the flavour, balanced here by the sweetness of the cauliflower, saffron and pine nuts for a delicious side dish

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• For the yoghurt:

• small bunch of mint and/or parsley, finely chopped

• 6 tbsp thick natural yoghurt or vegan yoghurt of your choice

• drizzle of good olive oil

• For the cauliflower:

• olive oil

• 1 large cauliflower (about 800g/1 3/4lb), florets separated and stalks finely sliced

• 50ml white wine vinegar

• good pinch of saffron strands (or 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric)

• 50g butter or vegan butter, cubed

• small bunch of parsley and/or coriander, roughly chopped

• To serve:

• 4 flatbreads

• good pinch of sumac or Aleppo chilli

• 150g pine nuts, toasted

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C.

2. Mix the mint and/or parsley and yoghurt in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, stir in a splash of olive oil, then set aside.

3. Heat a large oven-proof frying pan over a medium heat, add a good glug of olive oil, then add the cauliflower in a single layer (you may need to cook it in a few batches). Once all your cauliflower is browned on both sides (this will take about 10 minutes), put the lot back into the pan and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the stalks are soft and the florets crisp.

4. Remove the pan from the oven using an oven glove, then put it back on the hob over a medium heat, add the vinegar and saffron or turmeric then reduce the vinegar for about 2 minutes. Take off the heat, add the butter, toss the cauliflower in it to create a thick and glossy sauce, then stir through most of the parsley and/or coriander.

5. Spoon the yoghurt into a shallow serving bowl and use the back of a spoon to swirl it over the bottom, then tumble the buttery cauliflower in. Finish with the last bit of parsley, the pine nuts and some sumac, and serve with flatbreads.
   This recipe is from Anna Jones' One Pot, Pan, Planet

Danny Trejo’s cauliflower tostada recipe

This simple yet delicious dish can be on the table in under half an hour.

Servings

4

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 4 corn tortillas

• 1 medium cauliflower head

• 2tbsp olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Pickled onions

• Avocado crema

• 2tbsp Arbol flakes (optional)

• For the garnish:

• 24 pickled red onions

• Pinch of chopped coriander

• 1 lime, quartered

Method

1. Preheat the oven.

2. Scatter the cauliflower florets on the tray and season with salt and pepper.

3. Roast cauliflower to your desired tenderness.

4. Heat up the tortilla, top the tostada with cauliflower, pickled onions and avocado crema. And serve with lime wedge.
   
   Trejo’s Tacos: Recipes And Stories From LA by Danny Trejo is published in hardback by Penguin Random House. Book and cover design by Jen Wang, photography by Ed Anderson. Available now.