Happy October! Today we’ve got the coziest recipe for ushering in the first full month of fall – a cauliflower bake from Amy Chaplin’s beautiful new cookbook, Whole Food Cooking Every Day. This recipe has everything we ever want in a comforting, fall dish: mushrooms, caramelized onions, chickpeas, and hearty greens, all covered by a fluffy, almost cheesy blanket of vegan cauliflower souffle.
We’ve been so excited for the release of this cookbook, being huge fans of Amy’s work. Her first book is a true bible of whole food cooking, filled with kitchen wisdom and an incredible variety of plant-forward recipes. We learned so much from that volume, like the fact that it’s best to cook beans with a sheet of kombu for better digestion and that making a curry spice blend at home is very much worth it for the unbelievable flavor.
Much like Amy’s first cookbook, Whole Food Cooking Every Day is monumental and thorough, with beautiful photography woven throughout. The book is organized in a brilliant way – each chapter presents a base recipe, which is then elaborated on with different ingredient variations. The Cauliflower Bake chapter that we worked from features a recipe for a fluffy cauliflower topping, which can go over a number of different fillings. Here are some examples of other base recipe chapters: Genius Whole-Grain Porridges, Gluten-Free Breads, Simple and Healing Soups, Baked Marinated Tempeh, Seeded Crackers, Easy Cakes. Don’t all of those sound amazing? If you’re ever in the market for a trusted resource on colorful, everyday whole food cooking, look no further. We hope you’ll enjoy the cozy bake :)
- 1 large head (2½ lbs) cauliflower - cut into 1½" florets
- ½ cup raw pine nuts, cashews, or macadamia nuts
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin coconut oil
- 1½ lbs shiitake mushrooms - stems removed and caps thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
- 3 medium onions - quartered and thinly sliced lengthwise
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- 6 cups (6 oz) sliced Swiss chard - tough stems removed
- 1½ cups cooked chickpeas (1/4 cup cooking liquid reserved) or 1 15 oz can (drained)
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cups filtered water if using canned chickpeas
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder
- 1 tablespoon filtered water
- freshly ground black pepper
- Set up a steamer pot with about 2 inches of filtered water in the bottom (the water shouldn't touch the bottom of the basket) and bring to a boil over high heat. Arrange the cauliflower florets in the steamer basket, cover, and steam for 10-12 minutes, until the cauliflower is cooked through but not falling apart. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Put the nuts, olive oil, yeast, and salt in a high-powered blender and add the steamed cauliflower. Starting on low speed and using the tamper stick to help press the cauliflower down, blend, gradually increasing the speed to high, until completely smooth and thick; use the tamper stick to keep the mixture moving and to scrape down the sides as you go. This will take a couple of minutes. Season with more nutritional yeast and salt to taste and blend to combine.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190° C).
- Warm a large skillet over medium-high heat and pour in 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add half the shiitakes and the thyme, stir to coat with oil, and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring only every minute or two (to allow the mushrooms to brown), until the shiitakes are golden brown. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Repeat with another tablespoon of oil and the remaining mushrooms. Wash and dry the skillet if there are blackened bits on the bottom.
- Add the remaining tablespoon oil to the pan, then add the onions and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, or until beginning to brown. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the onions are soft and lightly browned. Remove the lid, add the salt, and cook uncovered for another 5 minutes, or until the onions are caramelized. Add the chard, cover, and allow to steam for 3 minutes, or until tender. Add the chickpeas, cooked mushrooms, tamari, balsamic vinegar, and chickpea cooking liquid or ¼ cup water, raise the heat, and bring to a simmer. Dissolve the arrowroot in 1 tablespoon water, stir, and drizzle into the simmering mixture, stirring constantly. When the mixture has returned to a simmer, remove from the heat and season to taste with pepper and more salt.
- Transfer the mixture to an 8-inch square or equivalent baking dish and smooth the surface. Spread the cauliflower topping evenly over the filling. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the topping has begun to set. Turn on the broiler and broil the bake for 3 to 6 minutes, until the topping is golden and browning in parts. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.
- Once cooled, leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To reheat, put the bake in a baking dish, cover, and warm in a 400° F (200° C) oven until heated through.
- We used half shiitakes and half crimini mushrooms. Crimini take a little longer to brown but otherwise work well here.
- We used sage instead of thyme and also topped the bake with some crispy fried sage.
- We used coconut aminos instead of tamari - those two are pretty interchangeable.
- When baking, the filling tends to bubble up and drip out of the dish, so it's helpful to set the baking dish over a baking sheet, to catch the drippings and avoid a smoking oven.
Franziska says
I‘ve made this today and am rather disappointed. While the cauliflower topping and the filling tasted interestingly enough on their own, together they seemed to be less exciting. Also I am glad I made half because it‘s enough for 4 servings.
I also found that the whole dish takes quite long to cook. Actually I don‘t think the time in the oven improves the dish. It creates this shepherd pie look but the topping doesn’t get crispy, so why not eat everything 30 minutes earlier?
All in all i‘m going to take some inspiration from this and will maybe incorporate elements of this in other dishes but I won‘t cook this dish again.
Anya says
Hi Franziska,
Sorry you were disappointed! Glad you at least liked the separate elements. Thanks for leaving your review.
SJ says
Is it possible to substitue nutritional yeast?
Sounds yum and would love to make
Anya says
Hi SJ,
Nutritional yeast has such a specific, cheesy flavor, that it’s hard to substitute. You could try adding a little more salt and maybe garlic and onion powder to the topping to make it more flavorful. Or any other spices that you particularly love could work as well. Please let us know how it goes.
SJ says
Thanks, asking as I avoid it due to candida. Maybe I will make a garum sala one. I will let you know. Thanks for replying
Joyce Shapiro says
DELICIOUS!!!! I made this for our holiday last week and just served the “leftovers” for company several days later. My husband and I were amazed at the depth and wonderful flavors and textures. Our guests could not stop raving about the deliciousness of the dish, insisting on the recipe. Once again the Golubka Kitchen set themselves apart from the crowds of recipe blogs/cookbooks.
My tweaks – I soaked the cashews in hot water for about 30 minutes. I also soaked a few dried porcini mushrooms to add the liquid to the mushrooms and of course the porcinis themselves. I also added some garlic, whole English peas and carrots to the mushroom dish and prepared the onions and mushrooms in one pan :). The cauliflower topping was gorgeously browned following the recipe. Thank you so much to the Golubka women! This will now be a staple for holidays and cold weather days for us!
Anya says
Hi Joyce,
So glad you loved it! Amy’s recipes are always so delicious.
Love your modifications, the dried porcini and their broth must have been so good in there!!
Kiera Hill says
Hey! I made this recipe once and I loved it! I wanted to make it for a party I’m going to but someone is really allergic to nuts Is there a nut free option? Also how liquid/solid should the onion mushroom base turn out?
Thanks
Kiera
Anya says
Hi Kiera,
So happy you enjoyed it! I think a cauliflower and potato mash could be a good substitute for the cashew-cauliflower topping, kind of like a shepherd’s pie. Just steam some potatoes together with the cauliflower and proceed with the recipe. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. The mushroom base should be kind of like a pot pie filling – not too wet or soupy but also not completely dry, if that makes sense. Hope this helps!
Kendall says
This recipe is tasty, but quite time-consuming. It took me about 2.5 hours just to get it in the oven, with help. We were pretty hungry by that point, and serving it without baking it worked out fine. We baked the remainder, which meant it didn’t bubble out of the pan. I over-steamed the cauliflower on purpose (six mins in the Instapot), and it blended easily. It would be good to break this recipe down, making the cauliflower and maybe the mushrooms ahead of time. The thing that took the longest was cooking down the onions; you could use two large or three small, or you could cook the mushrooms and onions simultaneously if you have two large pans. I added peas and carrots like the other reviewer, which added nice color; I also reduced the amount of chard and chickpeas. Definitely do the fried sage on top for a nice presentation!
Nancy says
Can this be frozen before baking?
Anya says
Hello,
I’m sorry, I’m not sure as I’ve never tried freezing it.