Grilled Cauliflower Steaks with Romesco Sauce

Meet the other steak of summer: cauliflower! An entire head of cauliflower has about 200 calories, the equivalent of a 3-ounce portion of a grilled beef tenderloin steak. The grill transforms the florets, caramelizing them and turning them crunchy, while the center stem gets tender but remains crisp.

I dress the cauliflower steaks up with a bold, bright, zippy Romesco sauce. Romesco is a rich, smoky, Spanish-style sauce made from roasted peppers and charred tomatoes and thickened with nuts or bread. Instead of roasting the peppers (why turn on the oven?) I grill them and use heart-healthy walnuts to “beef” up the texture and balance all the bright flavors.

2 red bell peppers
1 small tomato
1/2 cup walnut halves, toasted
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar
2 small garlic cloves
3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 heads cauliflower

Preheat grill to medium high.

FOR SAUCE:
Place whole peppers over direct heat. Turn every 2 to 3 minutes or until completely charred, about 10 minutes.

Place warm peppers in a heat-proof bowl; cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Let sit 5 minutes or until skins easily rub off. Remove skins, stem and seeds from pepper; discard. Cut tomato in half; discard seeds. Place peppers, tomato, walnuts, 2 tablespoons oil, vinegar, garlic,   teaspoon salt and pepper in a blender or food processor; process until smooth.

FOR CAULIFLOWER:
Cut cauliflower into 3/4- 1 inch thick “steak” slices vertically from the center of each cauliflower head. Repeat with the other head of cauliflower. You should end up with 4-6 “steaks” and large florets from the sides.

Drizzle cauliflower with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, rubbing to coat steaks; season with teaspoon salt and pepper.

Place steaks and any florets on the grill, cook until lightly charred, about 4-5 minutes. Carefully turn steaks over; cook until lightly charred and middle is tender when pierced with a fork, about 4-5 minutes more. Remove from grill; keep warm. Serve sauce over cauliflower; sprinkle with additional walnuts, if desired.

PRO TIP:  Make a double batch of the sauce while you’re at it. It’s great drizzled over fish, tossed into pasta, smeared on sandwiches, or simply served on a platter alongside raw veggies and hearty slices of whole grain bread.

Sidney Fry is a two-time James-Beard-Award-winning food and nutrition writer who loves creating simple, healthy recipes and thoughtful, actionable content for the hungry consumer. A healthy living proactivist, Sidney is also a registered dietitian nutritionist, recipe developer and mama of three based in Birmingham, Alabama.