If you find it hard to get excited about cauliflower, this recipe might rekindle your interest. Whole-baked cauliflower is a tasty way to enjoy this nutritionally dense vegetable; with almost zero washing up, and minimal prep time, this recipe could become a family favorite.
The satay marinade, or sauce, whichever name you prefer, is the real star in this recipe. Blend the base ingredients—ginger, garlic cloves, onions, and coconut milk—into a smooth paste, along with plenty of herbs and spices to create a rich and creamy marinade. Pour it over your cauliflower and bake until soft; it couldn’t be simpler. You’ll need to check on your cauliflower halfway through baking to make sure it isn’t drying out; apart from that, it pretty much takes care of itself.
If you’ve run out of your favorite nut butter, or you prefer to skip this ingredient, feel free to use a substitute such as tahini. If you use tahini instead of almond butter, for example, you’ll get similar results: a deliciously rich and creamy marinade, though less sweet than almonds.
Cauliflower has a mild taste, so you might need to ramp up the seasoning with liberal amounts of your favorite spices. I like to keep leftover marinade in the fridge to use the next day; if you add a dash of water or bone broth, it makes a tasty sauce to pour over a vegetable medley of broccoli, green beans and sprouts.
The time it takes for the cauliflower to cook will vary depending on its size. If you find it needs more time, pop it back in the oven until it’s sufficiently soft.
This recipe tastes great on its own or served with turmeric rice for a more substantial meal. If you make turmeric rice, all you will need to do is add a teaspoon of Dr. Cowan’s Garden Turmeric Powder at the beginning of the cooking process when the rice starts to boil. You can also add the turmeric at the end, mixed with a generous scoop of ghee and a touch of salt. Whichever ways you tweak this recipe, chances are you’ll discover a tasty way to enjoy this highly nutritious vegetable.
Remove the outer leaves of the cauliflower and trim the stalk to ensure it sits flat. Place it in a large casserole dish.
To prepare the marinade, peel and randomly chop a chunk of ginger, do the same with the garlic cloves and onion.
Add these ingredients to a blender, with a touch of salt, and blend into a coarse paste.
Add the rest of the ingredients (except for garnishes and basting water/broth) and blend until smooth.
Pour the satay marinade over the cauliflower and cover with a lid, greaseproof paper, or foil.
Bake for approximately 1 to 1.5 hours or until soft, basting with bone broth or water about halfway through cooking to ensure it doesn’t dry out.
Pierce the cauliflower with a knife to see if it’s cooked throughout. The cauliflower is ready when it’s soft throughout and you can pull the knife out with little to no resistance.
If you are using pine nuts to garnish the cauliflower, heat a frying pan (oil-free) until it’s quite hot, and place approximately 2 tablespoons of pine nuts in the pan and toast.
After a few seconds, gently toss the pine nuts in the pan to avoid overcooking. Continue for a few seconds until most of the pine kernels are lightly toasted and golden brown.
Randomly crush the toasted pine nuts in a pestle and mortar, and sprinkle on top of the cauliflower. Randomly chop the coriander (optional) and also sprinkle on top of the cauliflower.
Serve with turmeric rice or as is.
1 comment
Robyn
Perfect for a chilly winters evening meal. My son loved it, perfect for a main course as well as an accoutrement to a Sunday dinner
Perfect for a chilly winters evening meal. My son loved it, perfect for a main course as well as an accoutrement to a Sunday dinner
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