I’ve been making variations of this dish since an episode of Milk Street featured roasted cauliflower steaks topped with a garlic, lime, cilantro and cashew sauce. Calling a vegetable a “steak” lends it a certain gravitas, but let’s be real. Guests did not eat the spine of the vegetable, so the “steaks” were wasteful, requiring two cauliflower heads to serve four people. Moreover, the original dish is protein-poor, with only cashews for protein; it required a half can of adobe peppers in sauce (look at the ingredients-ugh), and it called for a lot of oil.
Over the years my version of the dish has evolved into a more frugal, more satisfying, and easier main dish salad. I roast the tofu (marinated in soy and balsamic, lightly coated in oil) at the same time (different sheet pan) as the cauliflower pieces tossed with hot pepper flakes, salt, black pepper, smoked paprika and oil. Yes, to get a good char on cauliflower the pieces should be flat, but that’s not the best part. That honor goes to the lime-garlic-cilantro salsa. (Don’t bother making this if you don’t like cilantro.) Fresh avocado provides a contrast in textures and more nutrition. Roasted tofu gives it protein staying power. Pumpkin seeds add even more protein.
1 head cauliflower, sliced and pieced
1 lb of firm tofu, drained, pressed, and marinated in 2/3 soy sauce and 1/2 balsamic vinegar.
about 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil–I used avocado
salt, smoked paprika, black pepper, hot pepper flakes
I bunch cilantro, chopped very coarsely
3 fat cloves of garlic, grated
5 or 6 limes, juiced with some rind grated too if you like
6 ounces of roasted cashews, coarsely chopped
2-4 avocados, diced
pumpkin seeds, optional
- Press, cube, and marinate the tofu.
- Coat the cauliflower in oil, salt, smoked paprika, black pepper and hot pepper flakes. Start with 1 tsp sea salt and 1 tsp smoked paprika.
- Photo above is of the two pans before going into the oven. Contents will shrink a bit during roasting. Roast tofu and cauliflower on separate sheet pans in a hot–400 degree–oven, switching pans half way through and stirring if needed. Both should be done after 25 minutes, but ovens vary. The cauliflower should be tender all the way through and crisp-ish in some places. The tofu should be a bit crusty on the outside.
- While cauliflower and tofu are roasting, make the salsa: Juice the limes and grate the garlic into the juice. This will tame the raw garlic flavor.
- Chop the cilantro and toss with everything else. Dice the avocados just before putting the salad together. (Or, more trouble, blanch avocados before cutting to disable the enzyme that turns the flesh brown.) Add pumpkin seeds for even more protein and texture. Taste for seasoning–it might need more lime or salt or pepper. I store the salad in the refrigerator with everything except the avocados, and it tastes fine the next day or even the one after that. But best at room temperature. We serve this on a bed of arugula.
Natasha Saje 