Nearly a full meal and absolutely satisfying--a knife-and-fork dish that highlights the vegetables. Maitake mushrooms, aka hen-of-the-woods, have a robust, nutty flavor that particularly complements the dish. If you can't find them, sub in a handful of another favorite mushroom.
Really great recipe - the sauce is the star. Without the sauce it won't be as delicious so don't skip it.
You don't need to be that skilled of a cook to make this. Just need time. There are multiple components and you need to be organized.
I wish the ingredients were listed separately according to the parts of the dish.
Good quality ingredients will make this even more tasty. Especially a good wine. I used a Chardonnay.
My husband is vegetarian and said this is the best thing I've ever made him.
I am saving this for sure and might even use the sauce for chicken or shrimp.
I have saved it
I really mean no offence by this, but you're not really reviewing THIS recipe. You changed three quarters of the ingredients. It's basically a different meal. As a result, your review doesn't help people who are deciding whether they want to cook this recipe or not. You didn't make it, you made something else that also happened to involve cauliflower steaks and mushrooms.
I made this last night and it was fantastic! The capers and lemon juice really brightened the other flavors. I couldn't find maitake mushrooms, so I used dried shitake. I soaked the shitake, then squeezed the water out and rolled them in a paper towel to wick more moisture. I substituted the shitake broth for the veggie broth. Also, I only had Bob's Red Mill regular polenta on hand so I used that, which didn't require milk, but everything else I made per the recipe. Deeeelish!
I only made the "steaks," not the mushroom sauce nor the polenta. I found that the cauliflower steaks cooked faster than indicated. I made my own mushroom sauce which I prepared with criminis and it was very tasty. In place of the polenta (I was not interested in an all white-ish/grey meal), I made a edamame and pea puree flavored with some carrot top pesto I already had in the freezer ready to go. The puree was much easier than polenta, it looked nicer and was tasty too! I also added some diced red bell peppers on top for some more color.
This was really good. If you've not tried roasted cauliflower this is worlds away from the raw stuff on salad bars. My husband refused to call them "steaks" ;), but otherwise said they were not bad at all. I used polenta slow-cooked in milk the night before but otherwise followed directions, and served it with limas the first time, green beans the second. For either vegetarian guests or those who don't demand meat at every meal, this would make a tasty and elegant supper.
This was probably the best thing I've ever made from Cooking Light. I'd highly recommend this to anyone. My boyfriend even commented that it tasted like restaurant quality.
