easy vegan cauliflower roast - get creative with variations
disclaimer - i grow weary of placing the word vegan in front of every other freaking ingredient, so when i say milk i mean plant milk, when i say worcestershire sauce i mean the vegan kind. same with mayo, milk, eggs (i usually say what the replacement is if it's important or the choice is yours), butter. i’m a vegan. of course i mean vegan ingredients.
so awhile ago i finally tried my hand at a cauliflower roast. it was a very simple recipe and i happened to have all the ingredients on hand. i mixed 1/4 cup tahini with 1 tablespoon of evoo, added some fresh crushed garlic cloves and paprika, smeared it on the cauliflower, threw it in a roasting pan with some other assorted veggies drizzled in evoo and topped with fresh rosemary sprigs, then baked. i served it with gravy.
here it is prepped and ready for the oven
delectable. see.
in dreaming of making another roast, i came across a recipe for one that is Indian spiced with a separate sauce for dipping. sounded and looked delicious. however, it was a dry spice rub with maybe like 1 tablespoon of evoo to get it to stick. that aspect didn’t sound great to me. plus the directions were slightly different. this second recipe said to cut out some of the core, making sure not to cut too much so the florets still stay together and to line the roaster with foil and then grease it. the baking temp was higher and the baking time was very different as well.
whatever. since my first attempt turned out perfectly, i decided to frankenstein the recipes (what goes better with Indian spices than tahini?) and create one that was perfect.
so first things first. when i cook my veggies, unless i get distracted and oops, they come out as i refer to them al dente. that just means they’re not cooked to snotty mushiness. if that’s the way you like them, adjust and cook longer. but i prefer mine with some bite and structure left to them.
here’s the recipe:
1 head of cauliflower - remove outer green leaves and cut enough off the stem so it’ll sit flat.
center the cauliflower in the roasting pan.
rub/baste:
1/4 cup tahini
1 tablespoon evoo
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds or ground cumin (i had ground on hand)
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
combine these and pour/brush over the cauliflower.
surround with whatever other veggies you want. i’ve used potatoes, carrots, celery, onion. i drizzle them with oil and salt and pepper and they roast just fine. anything that takes longer than potatoes to cook, either cut very small or pre cook a little. when i try this with fall root vegetable that’s my plan.
cover and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. remove cover and bake another 10-30 minutes. test with a fork for doneness.
sauce (essentially tastes like Indian thousand island dressing):
1/2 cup total of mayo/yogurt (the recipe was for 1/4 cup each. i don’t keep yogurt, vegan or otherwise, on hand so i did mostly mayo with some almond milk to equal 1 cup to get the right consistency)
2 tsp grainy mustard with horseradish (again, i didn’t have this so i used 1 tsp regular yellow mustard and 1 tsp horseradish)
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon vegan worcestershire sauce (ran out, so i used bragg’s amino acids)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder (i prefer to keep dried onion flakes, so i used them and doubled the amount)
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
stir this shit together. wish you made more so you can put it on EVERYTHING.
not quite as colorful as i chopped too many potatoes, not enough room for carrots :(
unfortunately, it doesn't look as wonderful portioned out on a plate, but there's the sauce and i served mine with some field roast.
