Tried and true tricks to get your family to eat vegetables, like these cauliflower steaks. The cilantro and hot pepper aioli is the icing on a...steak.
If only there was no ice on the streets causing slow movement and several traffic incidents, I'd have had more time to tell the sweet cashier, who reminded me of my grandma, all the ways you can use cauliflower.
She told me that in the sixty years she's been married to her husband he refused to eat any vegetables but canned green beans. Can you imagine?
Introducing new vegetables to your family can be tricky sometimes. For the longest time, my daughter was disgusted by cauliflower because "it looks like brains".
I shared my tried and true tricks with the cashier who, even after sixty years, never gave up trying:
#1 Hide it in other food
This is an old and favorite trick. Add finely chopped vegetables to stews, lasagna, or even pasta meat sauce. I have hidden cauliflower in mac & cheese and on pork chops covered with cheese before. My picky granddaughters never knew what hit them, ha!
Tip: Do not reveal your secrets or they will never trust you again. To get my cabbage-hating husband to eat it, I hid a whole head in a sneaky casserole. He loved it!
#2 Rename it
Give the dish a different name. Cauliflower steaks sound so much better than just plain cauliflower.
Another example is above mentioned sneaky casserole. Of course, I didn't tell my husband I was serving cabbage and polenta casserole. No way would he have even tried it.
#3 Change the way you serve it
If you only ever serve steamed vegetables try roasting them in the oven instead. Serve with a sauce, like an aioli, your family already loves! Changing the way you cut the vegetables helps too. I usually roast cauliflower separated in florets.
By slicing it through I created "steaks" and a new recipe that everyone loved. The cilantro and hot pepper aioli was the icing on a...steak.
Ingredients:
- cauliflower
- olive oil
- smoked salt
- Turmeric
- Cumin
Cilantro and hot pepper aioli
- mayonnaise
- ketchup
- white wine vinegar
- garlic
- cilantro
- jalapeno peppers
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the leaves and trim the stem end of the cauliflower. With a large knife, slice the cauliflower lengthwise into ¾-inch thick "steaks", keeping as much intact as possible.
- Arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, turmeric, and cumin on both sides.
- Roast with remaining florets until golden brown, about 20 minutes, flipping the steaks halfway through.
- Transfer to a serving platter. Serve topped with aioli.
Cilantro and hot pepper aioli
- In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, and vinegar.
- Add garlic, cilantro, and jalapeno peppers. Season with salt to taste.
Do you have people like my daughter and cashier's husband in your house? How do you get them to eat vegetables?
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Cauliflower Steaks with Cilantro and Hot Pepper Aioli Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil for drizzling
- ½ teaspoon Smoked salt my newest addiction, but you can substitute with sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon Freshly ground pepper or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground Turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon Cumin
Cilantro and hot pepper aioli
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic crushed in a mortar or with a side of a knife
- 1 bunch finely chopped cilantro
- 2 seeded and finely chopped jalapeno peppers
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the leaves and trim the stem end of the cauliflower. With a large knife, slice the cauliflower lengthwise into ¾-inch thick "steaks", keeping as much intact as possible.
- Arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, turmeric, and cumin on both sides.
- Roast with remaining florets until golden brown, about 20 minutes, flipping the steaks halfway through. Transfer to a serving platter. Serve topped with aioli.
Cilantro and hot pepper aioli
- In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, and vinegar. Add garlic, cilantro, and jalapeno peppers. Season with salt to taste.
Marilyn Lesniak says
Thank you so much for linking at #overthemoon! I look forward to seeing what you share every week. Please come back for #WonderfulWednesday or #ThursdayFavoriteThings. Enjoy your week ahead.
Jas says
Thank you for hosting each week! Love partying with you ladies! 🙂
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome says
It's makin' my mouth water!! Looks so good! Thanks for sharing on the What's for Dinner Link up -
Jas says
Thank you, Helen!
Cathy says
I love cauliflower, but admit to being in a rut with just roasting it with olive oil and salt and pepper. This recipe looks delicious! pinning!
Jas says
That's tasty! I like to switch it up from time to time. 🙂
Carlee says
I have to admit canned green beans were a staple of my childhood. I haven't had one in quite a while now... though you kind of made me want some. Either way, 60 years is a long time to have that as your only option 😉 We all need to have a few tricks up our sleeves now and again!
Jas says
Yea, but we evolve don't we, lol. He had options, but chose to opt out, ha!
Jen Gregor says
Yum! This looks like such a good way to eat cauliflower! Thanks for sharing at the Friday at the Fire Station link-up!
Jas says
Thanks, Jen! :)
Michelle says
You can give me cauliflower any day of the week and I'll eat it Jas. My great Aunt used to give it to us after lunch and told us they were miniature ghost trees that only the fairy queen and really special children were allowed to eat. I have loved cauliflower ever since. She told us the same thing about broccoli, except these had been hand painted with fairy dust so no one would know that they used to be ghost fairy trees, except us and the fairy queen 😉
Jas says
I love that, Michelle! Now I know where you got your imagination from! Sometimes we're not even aware how we influence young kids. 🙂
Miz Helen says
We will just love your Cauliflower Steaks, the Aioli looks amazing! Hope you have a fantastic weekend and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Jas says
Thank you, Miz Helen! I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did 😀
The Gifted Gabber says
Wow, this just made my tummy rumble. And I don't say that about any old cauliflower! Pinning! #funtasticfriday - Amy
Jas says
Lol, thank you so much, Amy! That makes me happy 😀
Debrashoppeno5 says
I first saw this when you posted it on Instagram. It looks so good. I don't have all of the ingredients so I will need to pick up a few things but this will be dinner soon.
Jas says
Great! I really hope you like it. Let me know how it turned out 🙂
rue says
Children and husbands... I'll never figure out why they're so hateful of veggies. I'm definitely going to try this 🙂
And thank you so much for your sweet comment and compliment!
rue
Jas says
They like to make our lives difficult, I guess. 🙂
Carol, The Red Painted Cottage says
Jas, We love cauliflower! I've made it several different ways over the years, but I keep going back to the way my mother made it. I could never eat enough of it. The only thing I can't do is to eat anything that's hot and spicy, so I might have to forgo the sauce. Smoked salt sounds very intriguing!
Jas says
Carol, I don't like too spicy either. You can control the heat level in this recipe for sure. It only has a little kick, though. But you could totally omit the hot sauce or any sauce for that matter 😀
Tina says
I love using cauliflower in different ways and I haven't tried anything like this yet! I am so excited! I'm not a red meat eater, so this is perfect. Thanks for sharing!
Jas says
Thank you, Tina! Playing with food is fun 🙂
Gentle Joy Photography says
I have never heard of, or seen, such a thing as this way to cook cauliflower... and yet, it looks tasty. Thank you for sharing it. 🙂
Jas says
There's always a first for everything, Joy! 🙂 Thanks for stopping in! Have a great week!
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
Love how you dressed the cauliflower, it would be a hit in our home. I'm sorry that Mrs. Shoes will have to miss out on this tasty rendition with "the pink goo"…so funny. 😀
Jas says
LOL, Karen! There are three things we shouldn't argue about: taste, religion, and politics. To each their own. 😉 I hope you give this recipe a try and let me know how you liked it 😀
Mrs Shoes says
K, true story: Mom once put a Thanksgiving pie on the table and let my Dad assume it was pumpkin (his favourite). He took one bite and blew up... "Don't make carrots into a pie and try to pass it off as pumpkin, I'm not an idiot, and I WANT pumpkin pie, not CARROTS!" Then he stormed off without finishing the carrot pie that tasted (to me) like pumpkin, but wasn't. Not gonna lie, still traumatized over that.
Just now, as Mr Shoes was getting coffee behind me, he glanced over my shoulder, and the first thing he said is "Cauliflower is NOT steak. And what's that pink goo on it? Don't even think about it, please."
That said, I am happy to add veg to sauces & just not say anything but 'thank you' to the compliments & what they don't know doesn't hurt them. When Boot was little he went through a phase of no veg - to this day, he has no idea how much spinach he ate blitzed into chocolate cupcakes. On the other hand, if there is a single bean in a recipe he can always tell & has a reaction much like my father "That better not be my supper if there's beans in it. I don't like beans!" Have you eve made chilli without beans? It's basically spaghetti sauce, but that's the way he likes it.
So I guess I'll stick with steamed cauliflower, which is okay, because the men will act like I'm some kind of genius. So long as there are no beans & no pink goo, I'm golden.
Jas says
I've learned long time ago, you can't please everyone. Take it or leave it is my motto. My cousin's late husband used to be like your husband. Saying ew to something he hasn't even tried, like he was 5 or something. Once, we managed to make him try my spinach from scratch and he couldn't admit it to me, but told my cousin that he loved it. Men are big stubborn babies, lol.