Melissa Hemsley’s Fried Chermoula Cauliflower on Herby Bean Dip with Slaw
This quick chermoula cauliflower dish from Melissa Hemsley's Eat Green can be on the table in under 30 minutes, and makes a beautiful centrepiece for a vegan dinner party.
From the book
Eat Green
Feel-good food that helps the planet and saves you money
Full of clever tips on seasonal ingredients and sustainable cooking
With flexitarian recipes to suit vegans, veggies, and omnivores
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Introduction
These spiced cauliflower steaks on green dip steal the show at any dinner party, but are super simple for a mid-week dinner too. They come together in 30 minutes on the nose! If you want to get ahead, the dip and slaw can be made in advance, then dress the slaw while you’re cooking the cauliflower. You’ll want to try the chermoula-esque spice mix on everything, or you could fry it with onion for the base of a pumpkin soup.
Ingredients
| 1 | medium cauliflower, save the leaves (about 800g) |
| 2 tbsp | ghee or oil |
| sea salt and black pepper | |
| For the chermoula spice mix: | |
| 2 tsp | ground cumin |
| 1 tsp | sweet paprika |
| 2 tsp | ground coriander |
| chilli flakes or ¼ tsp cayenne, to taste | |
| For the herby bean dip: | |
| 240g | cooked white beans or chickpeas (1 × 400g tin, drained and rinsed) |
| 1 | garlic clove |
| 2 tbsp | tahini |
| juice of 1 lemon | |
| 1 big handful | of a mix of fresh parsley and coriander, leaves and stems roughly chopped separately |
| extra virgin olive oil, to serve | |
| For the slaw: | |
| ¼ | red cabbage (150g), finely shredded |
| 1 | green apple, cut into matchsticks |
| 1 | celery stick and leaves, sliced |
| 2 tbsp | extra virgin olive oil |
| 1 tbsp | apple cider vinegar |
| 1 tsp | mustard |
Essential kit
You will need a food processor.
Method
Preheat the oven to fan 220°C/Gas mark 9. Slice two 2–3cm thick steaks off the cauliflower and roughly chop the remaining cauliflower florets and the leaves, keeping them separate.
Mix together all the ingredients for the chermoula.
Put the cauliflower florets in a roasting tray with 1 tablespoon of the ghee or oil, half of the chermoula spice mix, sea salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15–20 minutes, adding the chopped cauliflower leaves halfway through and tossing everything together.
Melt the remaining ghee or oil in a large frying pan and fry the cauliflower steaks for 2 minutes on each side, then add the remaining spice mix and carefully turn again, coating the steaks in the spice. Cook for a further 2 minutes until just tender (you could now pop in the oven to keep warm).
Meanwhile, mix all the slaw ingredients together with the parsley and coriander leaves in a medium bowl and season to taste.
Blitz all the dip ingredients in a food processor with the parsley and coriander stems and taste for seasoning. Add 2–4 tablespoons cold water until nice and thick. Divide the green bean dip between the plates, drizzle with olive oil and top with the hot cauliflower steak and the florets and leaves. Serve the slaw on top or on the side.
Waste not: The dip is a delicious way to use up hardier parsley and coriander stems, saving the leaves for garnishing so there’s no waste, just like the cauliflower leaves. You could also make this with broccoli steaks, aubergine wedges or squash, sliced into half moons. Fennel and carrot would also be great in the slaw.
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