Blackened Cauliflower Steak with Celery Salad

We'd file this recipe under: "cooking on days that feel like a week" or "cheap, healthy AND delicious eats!" 

Also, this recipe is incredibly easy to whip up, and vegan-friendly! 

Serves 2

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 2-3 tbsp Zesti Seasoning Salt or Smoki Seasoning Salt  
• 4 stalks of celery
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (or your oil of choice for salad dressing)
• 1 tsp cooking oil

Method:

1. Cut 2 1” “steaks” out of the centre of the cauliflower, trying to keep them intact. If you haven't done this before, remove the greens and place the cauliflower with the base down on your cutting board. Then, cut it in half. After that, cut a 1" steak out of each half. P.S. use the rest of the cauliflower in soups, salads, or maybe even try this Smoky Roasted Cauliflower.
2. Heat a pan over a medium-hot heat, and add cooking oil. Add the cauliflower, and let cook, for around 3 minutes. Let it brown and cook it like you’d cook a steak, which means don’t mess around with it too much - leave it alone! 
3. In the meantime, cut the celery into ribbons with a peeler. Season with salt, toss, and let sit for a few minutes so the salt can draw out the moisture. Ever have slaw with a gross puddle of water at the bottom? They skipped this step. 
4. After your 3 minutes are up, turn the cauliflower, and let it cook for the same amount of time on the other side. Again, lots of colour, lots of flavour. You want it heated through, but still crunchy.
5. Season the cauliflower with the Zesti or Smoki (not both, that might be weird), and cook for a further minute on each side, then take it off the heat! This gives it a nice glaze. If you add the Zesti/Smoki at the start, the spices could burn. 
6. Toss the salad with the vinegar and olive oil, and serve. 

Notes: Sub in whatever veggies you want for the salad, or simply add them to the recipe! If you use Smoki Seasoning Salt, consider serving it with a bit of Mogambo Garlic Spread.

When we tested this recipe, we added kimchi & drizzled with Hakka-ish Chili Crisp. Also did we mention this tastes great cold as well? Huzzah for leftovers!