RECIPE: Tahini transforms cauliflower steaks
Deeply browned roasted cauliflower is one of my favorite simple side dishes. It’s savory, a touch sweet, and a blank canvas for flavor variations. If you take the extra step of slicing the heads into steaks instead of florets, it can transform into a festive plant-based entrée.
To quickly and easily achieve even browning and a tender core, it’s best to cook the cauliflower steaks in two stages — start them in a hot skillet of oil, then transfer them to the oven to cook through. To further speed up cooking, stick a sheet pan in the oven before turning it on so that the pan will be hot when the seared cauliflower steaks land on it.
Many cauliflower steak recipes don’t give any instructions for what to do with the florets that fall off when you trim the heads into steaks, but there’s no reason why you can’t cook them along with the steaks. Once you’ve got the steaks in the oven, give the florets a couple of minutes in the hot skillet to jumpstart their cooking, then add them to the sheet pan in the oven.
For serving, I like to drizzle these cauliflower steaks with a generous amount of sesame tahini sauce. It’s a very simple mixture of tahini, lemon, garlic and water that, because it is quite rich, easily turns these vegetables into a main dish. Depending on your brand of tahini, you may need more or less water to turn it from a paste to a drizzleable sauce; make sure to wait to season the sauce with salt until after you’ve added the water to ensure it tastes to your liking.
Sesame Roasted Cauliflower
- 2 medium heads cauliflower
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup water, plus more as needed
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for serving
- Place a baking sheet in the bottom half of the oven and heat to 400 degrees.
- While the oven heats, slice the cauliflower steaks: With the stem end up, slice off two sides of florets, leaving an intact 2-inch-thick steak from the center of the head. Slice the steak in half through the stem to form two 1-inch-thick steaks. Reserve the florets.
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil and place over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cauliflower steaks and season with salt. Cook until golden brown on the first side, about 2 minutes. Flip, season the second side with salt, and cook until brown on the second side, about 2 minutes. Carefully transfer to the hot sheet pan in the oven and bake until tender, about 15 minutes.
- Add the reserved florets to the skillet and cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer to the sheet pan in an even layer and cook along with the cauliflower steaks.
- While the cauliflower cooks, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, water and garlic. If needed, thin with extra water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to form a drizzleable sauce. Season to taste with salt.
- Once the cauliflower is tender, transfer to a serving platter. Drizzle generously with the sauce and top with the parsley. Serve.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per serving: 309 calories (percent of calories from fat, 59), 11 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrates, 9 grams fiber, 22 grams total fat (3 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 690 milligrams sodium.Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
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