Roasted Cauliflower for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is almost here and we wanted to share this "Vegetarian Turkey" to Celebrate a Vegan Thanksgiving. This recipe is for a simple but delicious. You don’t have to be vegan or vegetarian to enjoy this dish and it is also delicious year around.
Serves 4 to 6 people
Ingredients:
1 large cauliflower
1 large carrot, thick cut diagonally
2 cup small red potatoes, halved
1 red onion, cut into a large dice
3 sprigs of rosemary, snipped into 1 inch pieces.
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
Gravy ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 cup low sodium tamari
1/2 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup tahini (roasted works better over a raw type)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup low sodium vegetable stock
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
Directions:
Prepare all your cut up vegetables and herbs. Toss the potatoes, carrots, onions, and rosemary with sea salt and ground pepper. Preheat oven to 425 F.
To prepare the whole cauliflower, remove the excess green leaves. Trim the stock so the cauliflower is able to sit flat into a roasting pan or skillet and remove any tough exterior of the remaining stalk so just the florets are visible. Be careful not to cut too deep into the bottom so the florets don't come apart from the entire head of cauliflower!
To prepare the gravy, heat a pan and add butter. Once melted add the minced garlic and shallot. Stir and cook this until softened for about 2 minutes. Then add nutmeg, celery salt, rosemary and thyme, continue stirring for another minute.
Combine corn starch with water to make a slurry and add that to the tamari, maple syrup, tahini, and worcestershire, whisking to combine well. Bring the gravy to a low simmer. This should be a thick, but pourable consistency so it coats the cauliflower and sticks to it.
Start by placing the cauliflower upside down in the pan so the bottom is exposed. Pour a couple tablespoons of gravy into the bottom so it gets into the florets. Then flip it back up and pour half of the gravy that's in the sauce pan on top. Use a brush to coat the entire cauliflower with the sauce.
Surround the cauliflower with the seasoned carrots, potatoes, onion, and most of the rosemary sprigs (leaving a few pieces for a final garnish).
Roast this for 25- 30 minutes. At this point it should have a nice deep brown colour and there should be plenty of juices at the bottom of the pan that you can toss the surrounding vegetables in.
Continue to roast for another 25 to 30 minutes.
Serve the gravy alongside the whole roast.
Garnish the final dish with the last few fresh rosemary sprigs, a couple of extra cauliflower florets for fun and serve immediately!
