It's cauliflower season, and I want to be more inclusive to my vegan readers and share a fabulous sandwich that's easy to scale up or down for a quick dinner or a feast with friends. I like to roast a whole cauliflower broken into florets to concentrate the cauliflower's flavor. When roasted, the cauliflower will get browned and crispy on the edges and soft and tender in the center. Before preparing the ingredients, I make the dough for homemade chapati, a flatbread that my friend Maya taught me how to make (check out her Brika recipe). While the dough is rising, I cook the cauliflower and assemble the vegetables for the sandwich. When it's time to eat, I cook the bread, and place everything on the table to serve family style so that everyone can help themselves: a large plate of veggies for garnishing (and texture), the roasted cauliflower, warm bread, tahini dressing, olive oil, harissa, and salt/pepper. To make this sandwich into a feast, simply serve with a large green salad, houmous, and eggplant caviar/baba ganoush with some sliced carrots and cucumbers for dipping.
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Recipe Type: Vegan, Sandwich
Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4
Ingredients
1 large head of cauliflower
1 lime or lemon
2 cloves of garlic
Red onion
Cucumber
¼ head of crispy lettuce of your choice
Harissa or any other hot sauce of your choosing
½ cup of tahini
Olive Oil
Neutral oil (I use sunflower or grapeseed)
Salt and pepper
Any combination of fresh tender herbs; I love to use dill, scallions, mint, and cilantro or parsley
2-3 pieces of flatbread for each person
Equipment
Baking sheets
Food processor
Microplane
Instructions
Prepare Bread
If you're making homemade bread, prepare the dough before cooking the cauliflower.
Roast Cauliflower
Preheat the oven to 400℉ or 205℃.
Remove the outer green leaves of the cauliflower, and cut the cauliflower into approximately two-inch florets. I like to keep the stem and slice it into ¼ inch disks and roast them with the florets.
Wash and drain cauliflower.
Place the drained cauliflower into a large bowl and add 2-3 tablespoons of neutral oil, a generous sprinkle of salt. Toss to coat, and place in an even layer on a baking sheet. Roast until browned at the edges and tender when pierced with a knife (20-40 minutes depending on your oven).
Remove cauliflower and pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil on top and add a splash (around 1 teaspoon) of acid red wine vinegar or lemon/lime juice. Toss to combine. When ready, place the cauliflower in a serving bowl covered in foil to keep warm.
You can prepare the cauliflower ahead of time and keep warm in the oven at 200℉ or 95℃.
Mise en Place and Garnishes
While the cauliflower is roasting, assemble the rest of your ingredients and set up your mise en place.
Wash lettuce and herbs.
If necessary, Trim dead parts off of the herbs and place onto a serving plate.
Cut lettuce into thin slices horizontal to the root to make shredded lettuce or shrettuce and add to a serving plate.
Peel the red onion and slice into half-moons, slice cucumbers into rounds or half-moons, and if you have scallions, cut into ⅛" pieces. Place on a serving plate.
Roughly chop 2 cloves of garlic and set aside.
Roughly chop a little bit of all the herbs you're using so that you have around ¼ cup for the tahini dressing.
Prepare Tahini Dressing
In a food processor, add the 2 cloves of roughly chopped garlic, and pulse a few times to mince.
Add ½ cup of tahini, ½ teaspoon of lemon zest, and the juice of ½ a lemon or lime, and the chopped herbs.
While running the food processor, drizzle in around ¼ cup of water (more or less depending on how loose you want your dressing) to make a silky dressing.
Season with salt, pepper, and more citrus juice if you want it to be more tart.
If you don't have a food processor, you can whisk the ingredients together (make sure to mince the garlic rather than roughly chop)
How to Serve
Before serving, heat the bread on a pan or in the oven. Place in a clean kitchen towel in a shallow bowl or plate to keep warm. Set all the veggies, herbs, and dressing, and harissa on the table to let guests assemble their own sandwiches.