Cauliflower Polenta
Cauliflower ‘Polenta' with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts is your new go-to side healthy side dish! It's a simple paleo and vegan dinner that's more flavorful than the real thing and super healthy for you.
Here's how to save the most amount of time:
Put the hazelnuts in the oven right away. There's no need to worry about waiting for the oven to heat up; the hazelnuts can start toasting while it's heating.
Once you chop the cauliflower put it in the oven right away. Just like with the hazelnuts it can start roasting while the oven warms.
Start the mushrooms sautéing next. While they're sizzling in the pan you can chop the onions, get the garlic ready and chop the hazelnuts.
Next, clean everything up, pop the onions and garlic into the oven, then go chill out for a bit.
Once the cauliflower is nice and dark roasted you'll be eating your cauliflower polenta in only 5 minutes.
MAKE AHEAD CAULIFLOWER POLENTA
You can make the cauliflower polenta up to a day in advance and then warm it gently over low heat with a small splash of water added to the pan.
You can also toast the hazelnuts in advance. I will often toast more than I need and keep extra on hand to toss into salads during the week.
1/4 cup hazelnuts
1 medium head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
1/2 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, in their skin
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
3 cups chopped mushrooms (I like to use a mix of shiitake and button mushrooms)
1/3 – 1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (or sub parmesan cheese)
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
Chopped parsley, to garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the hazelnuts on a small baking tray and toast in the oven for 7-10 minutes, or until they are golden and fragrant. Once the hazelnuts are out of the oven, increase the oven temp to 400 degrees. Roughly chop the hazelnuts once they are cool enough to touch.
Place the chopped cauliflower on the baking tray and drizzle with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the oil. Put it in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes. (You don't need to wait for the hazelnuts to come out of the oven first.)
Place the garlic in a small piece of aluminum foil, with a 1/2 teaspoon of oil, and wrap it in the foil.
After a half hour, mix the onion into the cauliflower and add the foil-wrapped garlic to the baking sheet. Roast for another 20 minutes.
While the cauliflower is roasting, prepare the mushrooms. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until the they are dark brown, about 8 minutes.
Place the roasted cauliflower, onions, and garlic (remove the skin from the garlic first) into a food processor. Add 1/3 cup of the water and the nutritional yeast or parmesan cheese and blend until it is creamy. Add more water, if needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
TO SERVE:
Divide the cauliflower polenta between 2 plates. Top with the mushrooms, chopped hazelnuts, and parsley.
Variations:
Plain Cauli Polenta PLUS Cowboy Beef Ragu
Ingredients
1 (10-oz.) pkg. fresh cauliflower florets
2 cups unsalted chicken stock
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup quick-cooking polenta
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Nutritional Information
How to Make It
Step 1
Place cauliflower in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until finely chopped.
Step 2
Bring stock, 1 cup water, and salt to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Slowly add polenta, stirring constantly with a whisk. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add cauliflower; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in butter.
Think of this savory meat sauce as a cross between beef stew and sloppy joe filling. Add pearl onions to soups and stir-fries, or saute in a skillet with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sugar. The perfect pairing for this ragout is our Cauliflower Polenta. While the stock mixture for the polenta comes to a boil, begin cooking the beef mixture. As your finish the ragout, the polenta will be cooking away. The addition of cauliflower to traditional polenta lightens the recipe. To add more vegetables to this ragout, add carrots and parsnips during the fall.
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted chicken stock, divided
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound 90% lean ground sirloin
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
3 sliced green onions, white and green parts divided
1/2 cup frozen pearl onions, thawed
3 cups chopped tomato, divided
1 tablespoon unsalted ketchup
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
Nutritional Information
How to Make It
Step 1
Combine 1/4 cup stock and cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.
Step 2
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add beef; cook 5 minutes, stirring to crumble. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and white parts of green onions; cook 2 minutes. Remove mixture from pan.
Step 3
Add pearl onions to pan; cook 2 minutes. Add 2 cups tomato and ketchup; cook 3 minutes. Stir in cornstarch mixture, remaining 3/4 cup stock, remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook 3 minutes or until thickened. Stir in beef mixture, green parts of green onions, and remaining 1 cup tomato. Sprinkle with chives.
1 head of cauliflower* (should yield about 1 pound of florets, see note)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup (140g) fine grind cornmeal
4 cups (950ml) vegetable broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon porcini mushroom powder** (optional, see note)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup (55g) shredded white cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sautéed Mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ounces (115g) shiitake mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
4 ounces (115g) maitake mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
salt
Optional Toppings
chopped chives
red pepper flakes
freshly ground pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Cut cauliflower into florets. Working in batches, add florets into a food processor and blitz until you get fine cauliflower rice.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and let that cook for about 30 seconds to release the fragrance. Next, add the cauliflower rice and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the cornmeal and the vegetable broth and stir to mix everything together. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let everything simmer for about 20 minutes. If you find that all the liquids have evaporated before the cornmeal looks softened, add water, about 1/2 cup at a time and stir to distribute the water. Add the thyme, porcini mushroom powder, butter, cheese and salt and stir until the ingredients have melted. Turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid while you cook the mushrooms. The cornmeal will continue to absorb all the liquids.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a separate pan. Add sliced mushrooms and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle a small pinch of salt on top.
Dish up cauliflower polenta into bowls and top with some mushrooms. Sprinkle some chives, red pepper flakes and ground pepper on top. Serve immediately.
NOTES
*If you are making this recipe from a head of cauliflower (versus packaged cauliflower florets), you will want a head that is slightly over a pound. After you pick out the leaves and chop out that center core (or stem), you should get about a pound of florets.
**I wanted to give this dish more umami flavor, so I added 1/2 teaspoon of porcini mushroom powder in there. Essentially, it’s dried porcini mushrooms that I ground into a powder with a coffee grinder.
