Cauliflower toasts

Try swapping your regular bread for this nutrient-dense cauli toast and I promise you won’t regret it – it is well worth the extra effort. To make things a bit easier, you can prep and steam the cauli the night before (just store it in an airtight container in the fridge) and cook up the toasts and rainbow chard mixture in the morning.

Cauliflower toasts Credit: Damon Gameau

• serves

  2

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 450 g piece cauliflower
• 1 free-range egg
• 30 g parmesan, finely grated
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• avocado oil, for cooking
• 1 small leek, white part thinly sliced
• 4 stems rainbow chard, stems thinly sliced and leaves torn
• 300 g cherry tomatoes, sliced
• ⅓ cup herbs (such as dill, flat-leaf parsley and/or basil), torn lemon wedges, to serve (optional)

Serves 2 or 4 (depending on whether you have 1 or 2 slices of toast per serve).

Instructions

1. Cutaway the florets from the cauliflower, then roughly cut them into 3 cm pieces. Chop the stem into 1 cm pieces and tear any leaves in half.

2. Place in a steamer basket set over a saucepan of boiling water over high heat. Steam for 5 minutes or until just tender. Transfer to a colander to drain and cool to room temperature.

3. Place the cauliflower in a food processor and, using the pulse button, process in bursts until finely chopped. Add the egg, parmesan and paprika and blend together for 20 seconds until well combined. Season well.

5. Divide the mixture evenly into four. Heat a large cast-iron frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour in some oil and, using two portions of the cauliflower mixture, press and shape them in the pan into two separate 1 cm thick rectangles roughly 10 cm × 7 cm. Cook for 3–4 minutes until set firm on the underside and golden, then carefully turn and cook for a further 3–4 minutes or until golden.

6. Transfer to a plate and cover with a clean tea towel to keep warm. Repeat with more oil and the remaining cauliflower mixture. Increase the heat to high and add more oil to the same pan. Once hot, add the leek and rainbow chard stems.

7. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes or until softened and lightly golden. Add the rainbow chard leaves and tomato, and toss gently for 1 minute or until the leaves are only just starting to wilt and the tomato is just warmed through. Remove the pan from the heat, toss through the herbs and season well.

8. Divide the cauliflower toast among plates and spoon over the rainbow chard mixture. Serve with lemon wedges, if you like.

Recipe from 2040: Handbook for Regeneration by Damon Gameau. (Pan Macmillan, pb, $34.99).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.