Help with grilled cauliflower steaks please

[jjdbike]

Hey folks,
Having my wife's faculty and their family over for a BBQ this coming weekend. A couple of the are vegetarian. Not sure if they are vegan or not. I do believe they eat cheese.
I am grilling vegetable on my Weber as a side dish. I was considering grilling some Cauliflower Steaks too. I have never tried this. We do enjoy roasted cauliflower. I wonder if anyone here has tried this and if so, what your results were.
Please share any experiences, tips or recipes you have related to grilled cauliflower steaks.
Thank you in advance!
JD

 

[BDAABAT]

Sorry, haven't done cauliflower steaks but have had them at a restaurant once.

This recipe seems close to what I had at the restaurant.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/281498/grilled-cauliflower-steaks/

BTW: Since you're mentioning cauliflower, have you tried smoking cauliflower?

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289338

Good luck!
Bruce

 

[Fooball]

Sorry, I didn't know that such a thing existed. :tongue:

 

[Learning to BBQ]

Although cool for presentation, i would think you'd only get 2 or maybe 3 "steaks" out of a head, as the florets to the sides would be cut off when cutting the steaks. But grilling them is a great idea and would be simple. The recipe above looks great.

That being said, i think grilling it whole just like you do roasted in the oven would be a crowd pleaser too. Throw a chunk of wood on the coals, get some smoke on it to give it a bbq flair.

 

[Swine Spectator]

On the few occasions that I have needed a vegetarian option, I have marinated portabella caps in ginger/soy salad dressing and smoked them. It has always been well received.

 

[SmokinAussie]

In a skillet with lots of butter. That's if they eat butter.

 

[LYU370]

Two, maybe three slices from the center. May need a couple heads. Marinated portobellos are also good. If you have a Whole Foods around, get some devil's meat. Seitan, don't recall how it's spelled. Basically "wheat meat".

 

[blake]

I often do cauliflower florets "roasted". Coat in olive oil and sprinkle on curry (yellow from McCormick) and salt. Turns out very good.

 

[JAKs Q & brew]

I find you can cut a cauliflower in 8 sections and the grill it on the 2 cut sides or on all 3 sides. This cuts the waste of trying to cut them to look like steaks.

Also, whole roasted cauliflower is another option and can really be a nice presentation piece. Boil the whole head for 20-30 minutes, brush with butter (or mayo) then roast, indirect super hot till crispy.

 

[jjdbike]

Thanks all.
Yes steaks seem wasteful as most of head will not be used. We're feeding 16 so at 2 steaks per head, that would take half a field of cauliflower heads. I'll just chunk into large flowerettes. As far as seasonings, it looks like it's all over the board and anything goes. I'll stick w/ BBQ flavor and use Worcestershire sause and BBQ rub and will add a little smoke. At end will finish w/ a touch of thinned BBQ sauce on some and Buffalo sauce on others.

Best regards!
JD

 

[CivilTrojan]

I hope you let us know how it goes!

 

[gsmith]

How did it turn out?

For my non meat eating friends I make them smoked meatloaf subbing Beyond Meat for the ground beef. They love it.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I'll often do grilled cauliflower florets as a side. Just a little EVOO, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Then grill until kinda soft. You can grill some onions to accompany.



It's better if you toss with bacon, sour cream, and cheese afterwards.

 

[jjdbike]

Thanks everyone,
Well, being a Weber Grill Noob, I screwed it up and learned an important lesson about direct charcoal grilling.
I cut 2 beautiful Snow White cauliflower heads into large flowerets. Tossed into grill basket over hot side of grill, drizzled a little olive oil over them and whoosh, fire. I closed lid and vents to extinguish. I thought I'd saved them. You probably already know the outcome. They tased like burnt tires. The burning oil gave them an awful sooty burnt oil taste. I'll try it again but will toss in oil before the hit the grill.
Rookie mistake.
Best regards!
JD

 

[jcbcpa]

I find you can cut a cauliflower in 8 sections and the grill it on the 2 cut sides or on all 3 sides. This cuts the waste of trying to cut them to look like steaks.

Also, whole roasted cauliflower is another option and can really be a nice presentation piece. Boil the whole head for 20-30 minutes, brush with butter (or mayo) then roast, indirect super hot till crispy.

I do this for us sometimes except I steam the head in the instapot then slice and sear in olive oil in cast iron. Yummy