Cauliflower Steaks w/ Pesto!

Is it just me or did April absolutely fly by? I mean…it’s April 25!! Where did the month go?!

Quite an exceptional dinner tonight (if I do say so myself) with an unlikely star. The humble cauliflower. Yes, the cauliflower: often overlooked, or seen as “icky.” Well let me tell you — it is neither icky or gross. It is now a superstar in my book!! High in Vitamin C, fiber, folate, and cancer-fighting compounds. And not to mention YUMMY!

gorgeous colors and textures!

With all my new food allergies, topped with the Body Ecology Diet restrictions, my food options have forced me to branch out to try new things. Enter: Cauliflower!

fantastic roasted cauliflower steak:)

I know you all are probably familiar with the “ho-hum” preparations of frozen cauliflower boiled to an inch of its life. Or as Ranch Dip’s raw crudite counterpart. Well, allow me to introduce you to the Roasted Cauliflower Steak! Strikingly dramatic, it was dinner’s shining star this evening. I served it with a pesto sauce, and cod “en papillote” with red peppers and spinach.

healthy and delish!

What a meal! Lets start with the Cauliflower Steaks.

amazing caramelization of the cauliflower!

Here’s what you need:

Head of Organic Cauliflower

Yep, that’s it! Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with olive oil. After washing and removing the outer leaves from your cauliflower, turn it upside-down on your cutting board and cut 1 inch “steaks” through the stalk. Place the steaks ((and all the fallen florets)) onto your baking sheet and spray with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 45 minutes, flipping half way through. When you flip it, spray the other side (now gorgeously caramelized and brown) with olive oil. Top with delicious pesto or eat plain and bask in its sweet, slightly nutty, caramelized goodness!

Pesto:
1 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
juice of half a lemon
1 Tbsp EVOO
3-4 Tbsp water
salt to taste

Whirl those in the food processor until you get your gorgeous, emerald, creamy pesto!

Finally, I served this amazing cauliflower with Cod en Papillote.

We had a beautiful fillet of cod from Lobsta Bakes that was wild, ocean-caught, and fresh from that morning! I made it “en papillote,” or in little tin foil canoes. I placed the fillets on beds of julliened vegetables, and they cooked in a steam bath of white wine, lemon and dill. (Or for me, just lemon and dill — no alcohol on the BED!!)

Here’s what you need:

1 green bell pepper, sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
fresh spinach
1 lemon, sliced
fresh dill
white wine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I portioned out my fish into 3 servings, and seasoned with salt and pepper. I laid out 3 large sheets of tin foil and laid a bed of spinach and bell peppers on each. I placed the fish on top, followed by the lemon slices and fresh dill. After folding up the sides and ends a bit, I poured a healthy splash of white wine over the fish. (This is what steams your fish and veggies!) Then fold up the sides and ends so it is all enclosed, creating a little canoe. Bake for 45 minutes, or less, depending on the thickness of your fish. Carefully open your papillote (the steam can burn!) and enjoy! Delish!

YUM!!!!

This meal was outrageous. Not only was the fish moist and tender, but the cauliflower knocked my socks off! By roasting it low and slow, it released all its natural sugars and caramelized to this gorgeous brown crust. It was tender and wonderful. The outside was just ever-so crisp and the inside was almost creamy and chewy. The flavor that was released was terrific — it was nutty and sweet. This paired so beautifully with the bright and fresh pesto!

brilliant emerald-green pesto:)

And the colors just jumped off the plate! The gorgeous emerald-green pesto against the bright red peppers was complimented perfectly by the sunny-yellow lemon! An all around a fabulous meal!

More cauliflower recipes coming soon! I have 4 mouth-watering recipes in the works!

Until Tomorrow!

My food processor was the behind-the-scenes tool that made this pesto shine! I LOVE my food processor, but then, you knew that already:) Here's the one I use:

Pesto Remix!

What a weekend! It was so great having everyone together! Under our roof, we had 7 people and 2 dogs! This afternoon, the last of the crew left, and now we’re back to just three. I am so grateful for the memories created this weekend.

the first bloom of spring!

So with a strikingly quiet and calm house, I decided to use up some of the leftover veggies from this weekend. We had a random bell pepper, zucchini, and cilantro, plus lots of limes due to our healthy supply of beer!

yum!

I decided to make another Fish en Papillote (Fish in Parchment) — or in this case, tin foil! I served this with delicious Cilantro Pesto Rice!

such a beautiful presentation these canoes give!

We had a beautiful fillet of grouper from Lobsta Bakes that was wild, ocean-caught, and fresh from that morning! I made it “en papillote,” or in little tin foil canoes. I placed the fillets on beds of julliened vegetables, and they cooked in a steam bath of white wine, lemon and dill.

Here’s what you need:

1 green bell pepper, sliced thin
1 zucchini, sliced thin
4 mushrooms, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
fresh dill
white wine

ready to be sealed!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I portioned out my fish into 3 servings, and seasoned with salt and pepper. I laid out 3 large sheets of tin foil and laid a bed of bell peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms on each. I placed the fish on top, followed by the lemon slices and fresh dill. After folding up the sides and ends a bit, I poured a healthy splash of white wine over the fish. (This is what steams your fish and veggies!) Then fold up the sides and ends so it is all enclosed, creating a little canoe. Bake for 45 minutes, or less, depending on the thickness of your fish. Carefully open your papillote (the steam can burn!) and enjoy! Delish!

little canoes waiting to be put in the oven!

With these delectable packages, I made Cilantro Pesto Rice! This pesto remix was outstanding! So fresh and bright!

just look at that cilantro pesto rice!

Here’s what you need:

1 box wild rice

1 bunch cilantro, stems chopped off
2 stems of kale, stalks removed, steamed
1-2 garlic cloves, (depending on how garlicy you like it)
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
juice of 1 1/2 limes
1 Tbsp EVOO
salt
water to desired consistency

Steam your kale to wilt it — just a minute or two. Put everything in the food processor, and whirl it around until it is a nice, thick, pesto! Mix this with your cooked wild rice. Yummy!

so healthy and fresh!

This dinner was delicious. It’s amazing that this patched-together-meal-to-use-up-leftovers could be so gourmet! Cooking fish in the tin foil canoes makes them so moist, tender, and flavorful! They take on the flavor of what they’re cooked with. This fish had the wonderful flavor of wine, dill and lemon! And the veggies were just wonderfully tender. Simply splendid. And this dish definitely brings the drama, as you unveil the succulent fish and veggies, waiting to be enjoyed!

all cooked in a steam bath of lemon, dill, and white wine!

Finally, the rice. Goodness, was this every scrumptious! Using cilantro in this pesto was so delightful! It gave it a truly bright and fresh flavor that you can only get from cilantro! This freshness, paired with the nutty, crunchy-chewy texture of the wild rice was absolutely delicious. A flavor explosion to say the least!

spring is here!

Here’s to a great week!

For this recipe, I used my fabulous food processor. I seriously can't go a day without it! haha Here's the one I use:

Flounder en Papillote w/ Vegan Kale PESTO Wild Rice!

OK. I need to calm my excitement, because I’m jumping up and down with how good tonight’s dinner was, and I’m so stoked to share it with you!

tender and moist flounder!

I am getting spoiled! My mom’s friend, who is a wonderful chef, (and shared last night’s pilaf with me) also shared a fish cooking method with me: Fish en Papillote, meaning “fish in parchment” in French. This method steams the fish, making it moist and tender, and cooks the veggies at the same time, in cute little packages! This method is not only ridiculously easy, but also has ZERO clean up!! Double score!

the package, all ready to be closed up!

Here’s what you need:

3 filets of fish (one per person)
handful of spinach
bell pepper, sliced into strips
3 mushrooms, sliced
fresh dill
lemon slices
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper

the veggies are hiding under the fish!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take 3 large pieces of tin foil and spray a touch of EVOO onto the center. On each piece of foil, place a small bed of spinach, 1/3 of the peppers, and a few mushroom slices.  Then, place your fish on top of the veggies, and season with S&P. Place 2 lemon slices on top of the fish, followed by a bit of dill. Fold up the ends and sides a bit, and then pour about 2-3 Tbsp of the white wine over the fish (this is what steams your fish and veggies!). “Wrap” your fish in the tinfoil and seal it in so that no steam escapes — creating a little boat. Place your 3 packages on a baking tray, and bake for 35 minutes, until the fish has cooked and the veggies are tender. **When you take it out of the oven, *carefully* open the pouch, because there will be hot steam that could burn you! Have your dining buddies gather ’round when you do the “big reveal” of unwrapping — it’s dramatic and fun!

yum!

This recipe seriously highlighted Lobsta Bakes’ awesome wild, ocean-caught flounder!

With these delectable presents, I served GF, Vegan Kale Pesto Wild Rice! Oh my goodness. New. Obsession!! Not only is this dish AMAZING in flavor, it is also packed
with nutrition, since it is made with the superfood, kale! And don’t be fearful of “the kale” in this pesto — you can’t taste it! My parents had NO idea until I told them *after* they ate it — “Oh, by the way, there was kale in that!” :) Jaws hit the floor.

FANTASTIC kale pesto wild rice!

So here’s what you need.

1 package of wild rice
1 cup fresh basil
3 stalks kale – stems removed and steamed
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
juice of half a lemon
1 Tbsp EVOO
3-4 Tbsp water
salt to taste

optional: 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast — this gives it a “cheesy” flavor, like the traditional parmesan in non-vegan pesto

delish!

First, get your wild rice going — this takes a good 60 minutes to cook. Meanwhile, steam your kale for 1-2 minutes in a steamer basket, then rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Dry it well while you toast your pine nuts. Whirl all the ingredients in the food processor until you get your gorgeous, emerald, creamy pesto! When the rice has finished cooking, let it cool for a few minutes, and then stir in your luscious pesto. Reseason with a bit of salt, and then get ready for a flavor explosion!

lemon and dill perfume the fish!

This meal was absolutely outstanding. Thank you, L, for giving me the heads up on this cooking method! The succulent thing about cooking the fish this way, is that it cooks in a steam bath of white wine, lemon, and dill. It takes on all those flavors in a deliciously moist and tender way.

Revealing the hiding, colorful veggies!

And then there’s the kale pesto rice. Somebody pinch me — this is so fantastic, you will think you’re dreaming. The wild rice is nutty and a bit crunchy, and it is just enveloped in this rich, creamy pesto. It is bright with basil and deep with garlic. It is a creamy, crunchy, fresh, pesto-y, earthy, and nutty party in your mouth!

Go to the store. Get these ingredients. And make this rice. It will be the best decision you make all week! :)

This is another recipe that utilizes my dear friend, the food processor. It is my go-to appliance. Here's the one I use: