Plant based eating has been anything but boring for me, it’s actually a fun new way to look at food composition. I blogged my cauliflower “steak” Oscar already and used that way of cooking cauliflower to be the highlight of this sandwich. Romesco is a traditional Spanish sauce, its tomato and garlic based and totally delicious, especially with cauliflower, so that was a no brainer. I picked up a delicious loaf of whole grain bread from Fleur de lis bakery at the Farmer’s market today, along with some spicy arugula! Easy to assemble, you can mix and match your favorites and I promise you won’t even miss the meat or cheese common on a traditional sandwich.
Ingredients:
2 roasted cauliflower steaks recipe here:
½ cup arugula
4 tbsp Romesco sauce
Recipe:
¼ cup raw hazelnuts
¼ cup sundried tomatoes (fresh are good too)
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic
¼ cup water
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Blend ingredients, can be stored in a jar in the fridge for 1 week.
2 thick slices rustic bread, about the same width as the cauliflower
Toppins amount is based on how much you want to eat:
Sliced olives
Red pepper slices
Capers
The possibilities are endless!
Assemble sandwiches as you like, I like to put a small amount of sauce on the bread, add some arugula, roasted cauliflower, a bit more sauce, more arugula and top with toppins! Delicious take on sandwich, unconventionally delicious and healthy!
Cauliflower “Steak” Oscar
Lately I’ve been obsessed with Farm to table chef Dan Barber’s Cauliflower steak recipe, Food 52 is the site I found it on, so basically I adapted his recipe but put the “Oscar style” spin on it. I was thinking to myself….what is my favorite steak house order? The answer is Oscar (steak, usually sirloin or tenderloin, topped with crab, asparagus, and hollandaise). I figured if I was going to replace beef with cauliflower I better make it just as decedent as a steak house meal is. His recipe calls for one head of cauliflower/seared till golden/salt & pepper/finished in a 350 oven for 10 or 15 minutes. I cut the sides off the cauliflower and used the middle to make two 1 1/2 inch slices to be consistent with a prime cut of steak. I also used a orange cauliflower, my store carries this, but you can always use regular, white cauliflower. So with the side florets you boil those in 2 cups water, 1 cup milk (you can use whatever you like, easily made vegan) for 10 minutes until very tender, in Dan’s recipe he puts the florets with one cup of cooking water and blends to make a puree, I did this as well but I added in butter, 2T (sub smart balance to make vegan hollandaise), and lemon, 1/2 juiced to make it faux hollandaise, because my cauliflower was orange it made the perfect color to be hollandaise, if using white cauliflower add 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric to get that yellow “egg yolk” shade. Blanch asparagus/prepare crab, remove shells etc. For assembly I put my “hollandaise” at the bottom, topped with the “Steak” added asparagus topped with crab (omit for vegan or use a vegan product), a lil more sauce a bit of cayenne (typical in hollandaise), and topped with some micro greens. It was AMAZING!!! Originally I was planning on a traditional egg based hollandaise but as I was cooking I realized I could use cauliflower in place of eggs and make a totally vegan hollandaise sauce! Dan Barber’s philosophy was a wonderful muse for my own creation, using veg cooked in methods usually used for meat is an awesome way to bring out the satisfying side of our veggie friends, and I think making it “Oscar style” really elevated it to a whole new level! Seriously try this, even the biggest carnivore will be begging for more and this is a healthy alternative!
