The Meatwave

Cauliflower was once one of those vegetables I could not understand why anyone would eat it by choice. That wasn't really cauliflower's fault though, but how it was always presented to me, which was bland and usually overcooked. When going through a process of erasing the numerous food aversions I grew up with, I thought cauliflower for sure would need a ton of seasoning for me to be able to stomach it, which is why one of my earliest recipes for this veggie had it heavily spiced and grilled. I've since learned cauliflower is something to be loved, and really just ensuring it's roasted properly is all that's needed to make it delicious, but that spiced cauliflower did always sit fondly in my memory and I decided to resurrect it recently to make these spiced cauliflower sandwiches.

The first thing I tackled for this recipe was making the pickled red onions that would serve as a way to inject crunch, tang, and color into the final sandwiches. I'm a fan of adding a jalapeño or two in with my onions for a slight heat and thought that would be especially good in this context, and that ended up being true.

I more or less stuck with the seasoning I devised about eight years ago, only making some small adjustments here and there. The turmeric-based mixture isn't really rooted in any one cuisine, but it will likely have a flavor most reminiscent of Indian food with layers of earthy and spicy notes from things like mustard powder, ginger powder, cumin, and cayenne.

To apply this to the cauliflower, I first cut an entire head up into large florets to ensure the pieces were all big enough that the would not slip through the grates. I then placed those in a large bowl and added in olive oil along with the spice mixture and tossed until everything looked more-or-less evenly coated.

Then it was off to the grill, where the first thing I actually cooked was a skewer full of garlic gloves. I thought a garlic mayo would be a good condiment compliment to the flavors going on in this sandwich, and figured while I had the grill going, why not grill that garlic to lessen its sharpness and make it something that would meld more than stand out. I separated and skewered the cloves so they would cook fast, and indeed, the garlic was browned on the outside and soft on the inside after just about five minutes.

While I let the garlic cool off the grill, I placed the cauliflower on, situating the florets close to, but not directly over the coals of a two-zone fire. I've found this creates a pretty ideal scenario where the cauliflower both roasts completely and gains some charring at the same time. It did require checking on how everything was cooking now and then since some florets closest to the fire browned faster and had to be moved further away before they blackened, and vice versa for the florets furthest away from the fire at the start.

While the cauliflower cooked, I peeled all the garlic and mashed the cloves into a paste in my mortar and pestle. The garlic was so soft though that this could have been done with a fork in a bowl, making this doable in a single vessel since the only other step to complete the sauce was to mix in mayo.

Once the cauliflower was done, I transferred the florets to a cutting board and roughly chopped them all. Then I spread a layer of the yellow-hued veggie on slices of sourdough and topped that with pickled red onions and a slice of provolone cheese.

I then placed all the bread—the dressed and undressed slices—on the cool side of the grill that was now outputting a medium-ish heat. After being covered for about five minutes, the cheese had melted and the bread was nice and toasty, but not charred or overly dry at all. I then completed each sandwich with a handful of arugula and a spread of the garlic mayo.

One thing I didn't remember about that original spiced cauliflower was that it was pretty spicy. When I tasted the cauliflower on its own, it was delicious, but also had quite a kick of heat and I worried that would be too heavy handed in sandwich form. It was not though, as the mayo, bread, and cheese all helped temper the spiciness nicely—although I did cut down the peppers in the final recipe because I think more people would enjoy these sandwiches with less heat. Spiciness aside, the cauliflower was a powerhouse player with a strong earthy flavor and heft that made it worthy being the centerpiece that the onions, cheese, arugula, and mayo all supported in their own important, but more minor ways. Chowing down on one of these, it was hard even imagining a time when I wouldn't have touched it because I thought cauliflower was something to be avoided, but I'm certainly glad I found my own ways to break a lot of those food aversions so I was able to bring these sandwiches into existence and enjoy every bite.

Published on Thu Oct 6, 2022 by Joshua Bousel

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