Roasted Garlic mashed Cauliflower Cakes with Cucumber & Lemon Aioli
Author Tiffani
Ingredients
For the cakes...
1medium head cauliflowermine weighed a hair over 2 lbs before trimming
1whole garlic bulbcut down the middle horizontally
1tbspvegan cream cheesecheck ingredients to ensure soy-free and/or nut-free, if necessary. I use Daiya which is free of both.
1/2tspsea salt
1/2tspblack pepper
2tbspgreen onionschopped
1Tbspfresh chiveschopped, plus more for serving
1/4cupbrown rice flour
For the aioli...
~1/2cucumberpeeled and deseeded (you'll need 1/3 cup grated)
1/3cupVegenaiseif necessary choose their soy-free variety
1tsplemon juice
1/8tsptsp sea salt
1/8tspblack pepper
Instructions
Remove cauliflower florets from head, cut to about medium sized. Using a large pot with a steamer basket, steam cauliflower florets until thoroughly soft, about 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°.
Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil. On the smaller of the two, place your garlic bulb, which has been cut down the middle horizontally. Drizzle garlic bulb with olive oil. Lightly oil the second baking sheet and cover it with the soft cauliflower florets. Place both the cauliflower and the garlic in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. You want the garlic starting to brown and the cauliflower dried out some.
While the garlic and cauliflower are roasting, make your aioli. Grate your cucumber* and measure out 1/3 cup. Place the measured cucumber along with all other aioli ingredients into food processor and combine with blade attachment. Pour into a separate container (a squirt bottle makes for nice presentation), and place in refrigerator.
When the garlic is roasted and has situntil cool enough to touch, squeeze out all cloves (they should slide right out). Place garlic cloves into cleaned food processor and mince. Now add cauliflower, cream cheese, salt, and pepper. Mix until completely smooth and fluffy. Be careful not to over process or it can become runny. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in rice flour, chives, and green onions.
Form 6 equal patties with the cauliflower mixture (you can lay these out on wax paper until ready to cook). Heat a large skillet or flat grill to medium high heat. Once hot, spray with cooking oil and turn heat down to medium. Place cauliflower cakes on heated surface and cook about 4 - 5 minutes, until nicely browned on bottom. Carefully flip cakes. I found this easiest to do with a silicone spatula. Cook the other side until browned, about another 4 minutes. Serve topped with aioli and a sprinkle of fresh chives (chives are optional). Enjoy!
Notes
*If using the food processor to grate the cucumber, make sure to first remove the grated cucumber and wipe the food processor dry before finishing the aioli. Otherwise it'll be too watery.