Za’atar Cauliflower Steaks

For this completely plant based recipe, I teamed up with Merchant Gourmet to showcase their incredibly versatile and easy to use lentil packets. The Middle Eastern flavours in this dish are some of my absolute favourites. I think the key to any successful vegan recipe is to make sure there is a variety of flavours and textures going on, and this recipe really does pack a punch. Healthy, nutritious and full of goodness, you won’t even notice it is vegan.

Serves 4
1. Rub the cauliflower with olive oil, seasoning and za’atar before frying with some vegan butter until golden and caramelised. Put them in the oven at 180C for about ten minutes to make sure they are cooked all the way through.
2. Next make the hummus - now this was a game changer. Everyone says how easy it is to make hummus and how much better it is than the shop bought version and after using a recipe from Ottolenghi’s Shelf Love I am a full on convert. So easy to make and so moreishly delicious.
3. To add some citrus zing I made a green herby dressing with plenty of basil, parsley and lots of lemon juice.
4. For some more texture, fry some capers until they are nice and crispy and stir through some chopped kalamata olives and raisins for a bit of sweetness to scatter over the top.
5. Finally, the puy lentils from Merchant Gourmet add a lovely earthiness (as well as more protein and fibre).
I loved coming up with this recipe. Give it a go and see what you think!