BBQ Cauliflower Steak

Cauliflower steak - lazy or brilliant? That's what I ended up asking myself as I was throwing this one together. To be honest, for me it was probably lazy, BUT it was just so good that I don't even care!

I was going to grill up a big veggie-filled lunch, and cauliflower was in the mix. I love BBQ roasted cauliflower, so I figured why not just try it out on the grill. I knew it would be delicious and take about half the time to cook. 

As I was about to prep it, cauliflower steak popped into my mind. I have heard of/seen it before, but never really looked fully into it. I was already planning to grill, so this was the time to go for it. It ended up cutting my cauli-cutting time probably by 1/10 - four easy cuts versus cutting each little cauliflower piece off the stem. Plus there was the added bonus of not wasting as much stem, and if you know me and broccoli stems, this is a BIG DEAL.

Here's What You'll Need:

-1 head of cauliflower
-1/4 cup olive oil
-Sea salt and pepper to taste
-1 cup all natural BBQ sauce

Instructions:

1) Remove the leaves from the cauliflower, and cut it into four slices of equal width.
2) Brush both sides of each slice or "steak" with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. You don't have to use all of the olive oil. You just want to lightly brush each side.
3) Toss the steaks onto a preheated grill and cook for 5 minutes per side.
4) Slather BBQ sauce onto each side of the steak and grill for an additional 3-5 minutes per side.
5) Remove from the grill, and serve with your favorite sides.

I hope you all enjoy this BBQ cauliflower combo as much as I do! Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Vegan and Gluten Free Beet Waffles

I've actually been thinking about making a beet waffle for a little bit now. My initial thought was to put beet chunks into a waffle like I've done with apple or berries. But then the thought came to me, why not incorporate the beets into the actual batter? Plus it would make for a beautiful color. 

So I was ready to make my standard quinoa flour waffle base and blend in some beets, when I remembered that I was recently introduced to the Neat Egg. The Neat Egg is an all natural egg substitute made from chia seeds and garbanzo beans. This seemed like the perfect first recipe to try with the Neat Egg. 

I've (attempted) to make a vegan waffle in the past, and it was just plain gross. It was really dense and not waffle-like at all. To be fair, it was my first vegan waffle attempt, actually my first homemade waffle attempt in general. Needless to say, I was a little hesitant about trying another vegan waffle. But the Neat Egg really came through. I honestly would never have known that the waffle had an egg substitute and not a real egg. It made the perfect waffle and wasn't dense at all. 

I topped mine off with arugula, feta, and spicy honey. I know, I know not vegan at all, but that is the thing I love about this recipe. You can make it for everyone! If you're vegan, it's delicious. If you're not vegan, it's still delicious. And everyone can choose their own toppings.

Here's What You'll Need:

-3/4 cup quinoa flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-3/4 cup water and/or unsweetened almond milk (I usually do 1/2 cup of almond milk and 1/4 cup of water)
-1 Neat Egg
-1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
-4 pieces of Love Beets organic cooked beets
-Toppings of choice

Makes 2 waffles

Instructions:

1) In a blender or food processor, blend together the beets and water and/or almond milk first.
2) Add in the remaining ingredients, and blend until batter is smooth.
3) Preheat your waffle iron.
4) Once preheated, pour in half of the batter, and cook according to your waffle maker instructions.
5) Repeat with the second half of the batter. 
6) Serve the waffles, top with desired toppings, and enjoy!

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Tempeh

I promise that I won't only post grilled recipes from now through like November (even if I want to), but in the meantime, another grilled recipe.

I had picked up some tempeh the other day and decided it needed to be grilled. So I started playing around with marinade ideas. One thing led to another, and I had some sort of sweet but salty but spicy but DELICIOUS marinade. I didn't really know what to call it, so you just get "Sweet and Spicy". But's it's good, like really good. And you will be pouring the marinade on top of the grilled tempeh, trust me. So I recommend not throwing it out.

Here's What You'll Need:

-8 oz package of tempeh, cut into 4 triangles
-1/4 cup maple syrup
-1/4 cup Bragg's Liquid Aminos
-1-2 tbsp sriracha (depending on how spicy you want it)
-1 clove garlic, minced

(Serves 2)

Instructions:

1) Mix together the marinade in a bowl or bag, and marinate the tempeh for at least an hour.
2) Heat up your grill, and toss the tempeh on. Cook for about 3-5 minutes per side until lightly charred.
3) Remove from heat, add some additional marinade as sauce, serve with your favorite sides, and enjoy!

So easy and so delicious. Does it get much better than that?

Let me know what you think!

Jalapeno Cheddar Spiralized Sweet Potato Waffle

As you all know, I love waffle Wednesday, but I wanted to try something a bit different than the standard waffle.

I had seen spiralized sweet potato waffle recipes before, and honestly, they just seemed overly complicated. Why do I need to cook my sweet potato to then further cook my sweet potato? I don't get it. Isn't the point of a waffle maker to throw it all in and voila - delicious waffle?

I knew my waffle maker had it in it to be the one stop cooking shop for my sweet potato dream. So I was pretty much like, eff it, we are going for this. AND IT WORKED! All the more reason to love my waffle maker. 

Once I knew how easy it was to literally toss spiralized sweet potato with an egg and waffle it (yes I'm making waffle a verb), I decided it was really time to play around. First stop - a delicious and spicy jalapeno cheddar spiralized sweet potato waffle.

Here's What You'll Need:

-1/2 sweet potato, spiralized
-1 egg
-1/2 jalapeno, chopped
-1-2 tbsp shredded cheddar (depending on your cheese loving level)

(Makes 1 waffle)

Instructions:

1) Heat up you waffle maker.
2) Mix together all of the ingredients in a bowl.
3) Throw the mixture in the waffle maker and cook about twice as long as you'd normally cook a waffle. For example, my waffle maker generally takes 5 minutes, so I cooked my sweet potato waffle for 10 minutes. Watch carefully, as timing may vary by waffle maker.
4) Remove the waffle, serve, and enjoy!

It's really that simple. The outside may look a little charred (or it may not), but that's probably just the cheese. Trust that it still tastes AMAZING! Want it to taste even better? Top that baby with a soft fried egg. BEST. COMBO. EVER.

I'd love to hear what you think in the comments below!

Grilled Portobello and Asparagus Tacos

I had some pretty delicious portobello and asparagus tacos from a place by me recently. So when taco Tuesday came around, I thought why not use the idea but give it my own twist? 

I decided to with grilling, because duh, it's me. Add in some SUPER simple, homemade guac, fresh radishes, and Bushwick Kitchen's delicious sriracha, and I had myself a taco upgrade. But seriously, this was better than the restaurant and kind of made me rethink the need for takeout on the taco front because they were also really easy peasy.

Here's What You'll Need:

-6 organic corn tortillas
-1 small bundle of asparagus (with the bottoms chopped off)
-1 portobello top, sliced
-1 avocado
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-8 cherry tomatoes, chopped
-Sea salt and pepper to taste
-2 tbsp olive oil
-1 radish, sliced
-Bushwick Kitchen's Weak Knees Gochujang Sriracha to taste

(Serves 2)

Instructions:

1) Get your grill going. In the mean time, toss the portobello and asparagus in a little olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. 
2) Toss the veggies on the grill, and cook for about 2-3 minutes per side for the mushrooms and 3-5 minutes per side for the asparagus. Remove from heat.
3) Throw together your quick guacamole. This isn't generally how I make guac, but keeping it relatively simple really lets the other flavors come through. Mash the avocado. Add in the garlic, tomato, sea salt, and pepper, and mix it all together.
4) Start assembling your tacos. Spread some guac in each (warmed) tortilla, top each with equal shares of the aspargus and portobello. Add on some radish slices and a drizzle of sriracha to each.
5) Enjoy!

This recipe is so simple but still packs such a delicious, fresh flavor. I'd love to hear what you think in the comments below!