Roasted Cauliflower Steak with a Creamy Cashew Sauce

This post is a part of Sprig & Vine’s Good Food Good Vibes month. We will be posting wellness content all January long; resources that will help you kickstart the year feeling well and good. Expect healthy eating hacks, feel-good recipes, and tons of wellness inspiration.

I’ve been seeing cauliflower recipes getting a ton of attention on the Internet lately. Cauliflower rice, cauliflower steak, and other preparations where it’s used as a replacement for meat in vegan and vegetarian-forward diets are all the rage. Having had cauliflower in Indian sabzis my entire life, I wanted to try out a different preparation of the humble gobhi and see what the hype was all about!

This cauliflower steak paired with a creamy cashew sauce is extremely fulfilling and makes for an excellent dinner that is both hearty, while being refined carb free. Make this when you want to eat healthier, whole meals and cut back on sugar, processed foods, and refined carbs. The entire meal comes together in less than 30 minutes, which means this is ideal for those weeknights when you don’t feel like doing much!

The cashew sauce is my favourite part of this meal. Cashews don’t get as much love as almonds, walnuts or pine nuts do, as it’s often considered “fattening” and full of cholesterol. But that’s far from the truth. Cashew nuts are in fact rich in iron, Vitamin B, essential fatty acids, and magnesium. It’s good fat that helps to keep you feeling satisfied for longer after a meal, and is also regarded as a natural anti-depressant in some health circles.

The creamy sauce with the roasted-to-perfection cauli steak is great. Add to it a few dollops of Greek yogurt and a generous sprinkle of dukkah, and I’m making this at least once a week.

“Dukkah” is a mix of herbs and spices that’s used as a condiment popularly in Middle Eastern and Egyptian cuisine. It’s usually made of a blend of different nuts, herbs, and spices that are pound together in a mortar and pestle. I used a dukkah mix inspired from Bon Appetit, consisting of toasted almonds, toasted sesame seeds, red chilli flakes, and toasted nori, and added some flaky sea salt in the end. But really, don’t get turned off by the nori; any dukkah tastes amazing with this! It adds the right amount of spice, crunch, and is seriously addictive.

CAULIFLOWER STEAK WITH CREAMY CASHEW SAUCE

Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS

1 head cauliflower, rinsed and leaves removed
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the sauce:

1 cup toasted cashews
2 cloves garlic
1 inch nub of ginger, grated
2 tablespoons tomato paste*
1½ tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons vinegar
½ teaspoon mustard powder
2 teaspoons sugar
A large pinch of chilli flakes (to taste)
Salt, to taste
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

To serve:

1 cup hung Greek yogurt
Dukkah mix (see notes)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Prepare the cauliflower: trim the main stem keeping the base of the cauliflower so it holds the steaks together. Slice the cauliflower lengthwise into 1 inch thick “steaks” - each head should give you around 2 steaks. You can keep reserve the side trimmings for other uses.
Coat the cauliflower steaks with olive oil and season with salt + pepper. Grill on high in a hot griddle pan until char marks form, and then transfer the cauliflower to a baking sheet and roast it in the oven until fully cooked - about 8-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the sauce except the toasted sesame seeds in the bowl of your blender and blitz until it forms a creamy sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning: add more vinegar for zing, soy for saltiness, chilli or mustard powder for heat. Mix in the toasted sesame seeds.
To serve, spoon the sauce on the middle of the plate and spread it into a larger circle using the back of your spoon. Place the roasted cauliflower steak on it and top with a dollop of hung Greek yogurt, and a sprinkle of the dukkah mix.

*Note:

Tomato paste is not the same as tomato puree. If you can’t find tomato paste, just cook some tomato puree on a low flame until it reduces into a thicker paste.

I used a dukkah mix inspired from Bon Appetit, consisting of toasted almonds, toasted sesame seeds, red chilli flakes, and toasted nori, and added some flaky sea salt in the end. But really, don’t get turned off by the nori; any dukkah tastes amazing with this!