Cooking vegetarian cuisine in restaurants and commercial kitchens is now a thing. There are many reasons behind this growing trend. For some folks, it’s a desire to eat healthier. Others may take up vegetarianism out of a desire to avoid harming animals. Undoubtedly, sustainability factors into some people’s decision to be vegetarians. Plant-based foods certainly have far less impact on climate change.
Although CVap is well-known in culinary circles as being excellent for cooking proteins, we wanted to test it by cooking some vegetarian dishes with a carnivorous slant. It’s worth noting that while these are solidly vegetarian, they aren’t vegan. The cauliflower recipe includes butter, a vegan no-no. Nonetheless, they were a tasty, guilt-free treat for our resident vegetarians and carnivores.
Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 cup Frank’s Red Hot (or hot sauce of preference)
- ¼ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 Tbs Butter
- 2 Heads of Cauliflower (cleaned and cut into large bite-sized florets)
- Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
The Process
- Preheat RTV/CHV-05 ovens to 200°F/350°F.
- Place butter, hot sauce, and extra virgin olive oil in an oven-safe pan and into the CVap to melt butter and heat through
- Toss florets with the sauce and place them onto a lined baking sheet, single-layer, with space.
- Bake for about 30 minutes (RTV) – 40 min (CHV), or until reaching the desired texture.
- Remove from oven, then sprinkle tops of buffalo cauliflower with freshly-grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Bake for another two to three minutes.
Serve with your favorite sauce (we used ranch), or enjoy as-is!
The base recipe came from allrecipes.com, but we adjusted it to suit our preferences, so technically, it’s our recipe now 😊
CARROT BACON
This recipe is inspired by Tabitha Brown’s Carrot Bacon recipe. We’ll be the first to admit that good old-fashioned bacon is damn near the perfect food. But if you’re looking for a healthier substitute for bacon, this vegan bacon/jerky recipe fits the bill...
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Liquid Smoke
- ¼ Cup Agave
- ¼ Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
- 1 Tbsp Granulated Onion
- ¼ Tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 6-7 Large Carrots (peeled)
The Process
- Cook Time – will be dependent on the size of carrot slices and expectations of “doneness.”
- Vapor OFF and Water Removed Air 300°F
- Prepare the “curing spice” for the carrot bacon by mixing everything in a bowl and setting it aside.
- Clean and peel carrots. Use a peeler, a Japanese mandolin, or a comparable slicer to make the carrot strips. The longer the pieces, the more it will look like “bacon.”
- Toss strips with curing spices, cover, and allow to marinate for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Transfer strips to a perforated sheet pan, single layer.
- Bake in CVap oven until reaching the desired texture.
Remove the carrot bacon from the perforated pan immediately. Otherwise, it will stick to the pan as it cools.
Note: We noticed that the strips get crisper as they cool.
Full disclosure – the original recipe was written for preparation in an air fryer. But we discovered that cooking in a CVap oven increased the volume output! We also realized that this spice blend is similar in flavor profile to Grippo’s Bar-B-Q Potato Chips! Happy accident!
All in all, our vegetarian cooking day was an interesting and
tasty success.
