Cauliflower "steaks" with black rice noodles

  Last Saturday my trip to the market was filled with anxiety as I wanted to buy the same treasures I had bought the previous week. I could only appease my anxiety when I reached Ecoseiva place and found what I was looking for: purple cauliflower!

 While I was choosing my cauliflower, Mr Nuno Lobão from Ecoseiva – http://www.ecoseiva.com - told me that in a near future they would probably have other colourful cauliflowers – humm – imagine the impact of the colors on tasty recipes when presented at the table!

  Meanwhile, I went through a brief search on the net and found out that the different colors were obtained by crossing different strains  until the desired color was reached and always without using genetic laboratories.

  Cauliflower productive season extends almost throughout the year. Choosing a good cauliflower is a simple task. You just have to pick the ones which are firm, compact and show green and vibrant leaves. Cauliflowers are very rich in vitamin C, folic acid, potassium, and in the case of the purple one, the nutritional values are even higher.

  Cauliflower is also an excellent vegetable protein.

  For today’s recipe I cooked black rice noodles to go with cauliflower “steaks” as I wanted to get  an exotic dish with a velvety texture and flavor.

  Black rice noodles are gluten and wheat free. They are produced from black rice flour and brown rice flour. Black rice flour contains five times more protein and minerals than common rice. By combining these two flours we get noodles with a different color (after cooked they turn purple), rich in calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, selenium and B vitamins.

Ingredients:

(serves 3)

1 pack black rice noodles

1 purple cauliflower

3 white cauliflower florets

150 ml olive oil

1 generous bunch of parsley

1 tbsp pomegranate powder

salt to taste

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash the purple cauliflower and cut into “steaks”.

Reserve 2 purple florets and blend in a food processor. Do the same with the white florets and set aside for garnishing the plate.

In a blender, place the olive oil, the parsley, the pomegranate powder and the salt. Grind until you get a creamy sauce.

Place the cauliflower “steaks” in a baking tray and drizzle with the green sauce.

Put it in the oven ( reduce to 375 degrees) and roast for 15/20 minutes or until soft.

Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the packet instructions in plenty of salted boiling water (3/4 minutes).

Put the noodles on a plate and garnish with the cauliflower “steaks”.

Sprinkle the plate with the raw purple and white cauliflower “petals”.

Bon appétit!

© veggie delicious food, May 2013