Tom Douglas

Meatless Monday #4: Hearty “Rub with Love” Bengal Masala Cauliflower Steaks

A few teams in our company are going COMPLETELY vegetarian (last we checked, there’s a $360 pot for the winner!). So in the spirit of these actions, we’re going to try and post a MEATLESS MONDAY recipe EVERY FRIDAY so you have time during the weekend to gather ingredients and maybe get inspired by your local Farmers’ Market or grocery store!

Now that we’ve established a few ways to use your vegetables and the magic box that is the oven, we’re moving to the saute pan.  This time, we’re making large, “eat with a knife and fork” cauliflower steaks with our Rub with Love Bengal Masala Rub!  The Bengal Masala rub is filled with a classic garam masala: cinnamon, cumin, coriander, cloves and cardamom.  To that, Tom Douglas added smoked paprika, chipotle to add a bit of heat and chives for an herbaceous balance.   It *USED* to be called our lamb rub, but since so many people were saying how they were using it for other applications, we decided to change its name and expand the love!  Here we go!

Left: Hey it’s cauliflower! Do a dance because you’re eating vegetables!  Right: With a sharp knife, cut down 1/3 of the cauliflower.  We used the unused cauliflower for a veggie snack and a Ranch / Sriracha dip that we snacked on through out the day.

Left: Now you’re fabricating the “steak” – cut an inch from the edge, making sure to cut through the entire stem.  Right: Trim the outer leaves and the bottom of the stem (not delicious for this application)

Left: Carefully toss the steak in 1 tablespoon of neutral oil (we used canola) Right: Gently rub the steak with about 2 tablespoons of Rub With Love Bengal Masala Rub.

Left: Preheat a pan over medium high heat with a few tablespoons of a neutral oil (we used canola) for LITERALLY 3 minutes.  Place the steak in the pan – it should sizzle!  Cook until golden brown , about 5 minutes and flip.   Right: Pop the pan in a 350 degree oven and continue to cook until the cauliflower is golden brown and fork tender,  about 7 minutes.

For our plating, we simply mixed Greek Yogurt with a squeeze of lemon and swiped it on the plate and placed the cauliflower steak on top.  We then topped it with a simple salad of cilantro, Macrona almonds and pickled lemon zest.  Lastly, we hit it with a final pinch of the Bengal Masala rub to reinforce the flavors on the cauliflower!

We hope you’re enjoying this series of blog posts – we really want to build confidence in YOUR kitchen!

January 11th, 2013