TRY THIS CROWNED CAULIFLOWER RECIPE FROM OUR RESIDENT VEGAN

The ability to create and cook good tasting recipes can be elusive for some folks and for others, I believe it is a gift inherited from parents and grandparents. My grandmother was an awesome cook and she shared her recipes and skills with other family members. My dad was a great cook and was very inventive so my sister and I were treated to some pretty interesting taste treats. My mother was also a good cook so between the both of them my sister and I inherited and learned from some of the best!

Many years ago, my sister and I visited our extended family in England and while there we were treated to some fabulous food created by our cousins. One of my cousins wanted to become a chef and apparently, the Royal Navy was an excellent place to get a great culinary education so he joined. He became a great chef and it was at one of his meals that we were treated to a delicious yet exceedingly simple garlic crowned cauliflower dish. When we became vegan, I stopped serving it but this week, I veganized it by replacing the butter and it was better than ever.

Garlic Crowned Cauliflower

1 medium to large head of cauliflower, whole but trimmed of its leaves

5-10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/3 cup of avocado oil

¼ tsp of salt

In a small, heavy saucepan add the chopped garlic and salt to the avocado oil and over very, very low heat gently cook the garlic until it is golden brown. I cannot stress enough the importance of low heat and watching garlic as it gently cooks. This process can take 20-30 minutes so patience is important.

In the meantime, put whole cauliflower in a steamer and steam it for 25 minutes until it is cooked through. If you don’t have steamer large enough, try putting cauliflower on top of the cut off trimmings in a large saucepan with a small amount of water in the bottom and steam it that way.

As soon as garlic is a deep golden-brown remove pot from heat…you don’t want this dark brown or burned as it becomes bitter. It can be kept at room temperature until you are ready to serve the cauliflower.

Carefully remove whole cauliflower from pot and place in serving dish. Pour oil and garlic evenly over head of cauliflower and serve. The garlic should be crispy and the oil will be flavoured by it. This dish looks so elegant and can accompany any meal.