These Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Cakes with Cucumber & Lemon Aioli are a delicious, lower carb version of a breakfast favorite! If you have been watching your starches and miss potatoes at brunch, these are definitely a must! Or maybe you just love both garlic and mashed cauliflower, again, a must!
One day last week, I was scrolling through Facebook, and a friend had posted a recipe for some mashed potato cakes. They looked really good, and I wanted to make some ASAP! I try not to go super heavy on my starches, however, so instead of mashed potatoes I usually make mashed cauliflower. I’m also not huge on potatoes, and actually like the mashed cauliflower better, so it works out well, all the way around.
It turned out I had some leftover cauliflower casserole in my fridge. That night I put it in my food processor, blended it up, added a little bit of brown rice flour, and made some cakes. Mmm… they were so good! I wanted to find the perfect seasoning for them, as well as a complimentary sauce to go on top.
I thought about it for a day or two and wrote down a couple ideas. I had it narrowed down to two, and then asked my husband for his opinion, to make my final call. What did the hubs go with? That’s right, roasted garlic! Yum!
Now for a sauce. I immediately thought of an aioli but had a couple of different ideas for flavors. I ended up making two aiolis and tasting both to decide which I liked best. By themselves, I liked the other better, it was an avocado dill aioli. That recipe was BOMB, and I will be finding something else for it to go on, but with these mashed cauliflower cakes, the Cucumber Lemon Aioli was the winner!
The first step is to steam your cauliflower until soft. This takes about 10 minutes. While the cauliflower steams, preheat your oven to 350.
To roast the garlic, cut the bulb horizontally, lay on a foil covered baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil. You will then place this in the oven for about 15 minutes. At the same time, you’ll want to also place your cauliflower in the oven on another baking sheet covered in foil, lightly oiled. This is done to help dry out the cauliflower.
While the garlic and cauliflower roasts, make your aioli. To grate my cucumber I used my food processor, first, however, you’ll need to peel and deseed it. If using the food processor for the cucumber, make sure to wipe the excess water out after removing the cucumber, or your aioli will end up too watery. With a third cup of the cucumber, you’ll need another third cup of Vegenaise, a teaspoon lemon, and a little salt and pepper. Now you’ll mix these until blended well.
Okay, set the aioli aside and let’s get back to the cauliflower. Clean your food processor and set it back up with the roasted garlic inside. Once the garlic is completely minced, add in the cauliflower, vegan cream cheese, and salt and pepper. Once smooth, transfer to a bowl and stir in brown rice flour, chives, and green onions. If you allow the chives and onions to be processed with the cauliflower, it’ll turn out too watery, so make sure only to stir.
Now you can form 6 equal sized cakes and lay on wax paper until ready to cook. Preheat a large skillet or flat grill to medium-high. Spray with cooking oil, and then turn heat down to medium before adding cakes to the surface. Cook for 4-5 minutes, carefully flip, and then cook for about another 4 minutes. You want your cakes nicely browned on both sides. Once ready, serve topped with the Cucumber & Lemon Aioli and some more fresh chives.
I just love the way these came out. I served them with brunch this morning, and they were a big hit! Cauliflower is always amazing me with its versatility. When I was a kid, I liked it okay with some cheese sauce on top, but never would I have imagined all the many ways I’d one day be cooking it.
Like this recipe? Love it as I do? Let me know by taking a pic when you make it and tagging me on Instagram! @veggiesattiffanis
Roasted Garlic mashed Cauliflower Cakes with Cucumber & Lemon Aioli
Ingredients
For the cakes…
- 1 medium head cauliflower mine weighed a hair over 2 lbs before trimming
- 1 whole garlic bulb cut down the middle horizontally
- 1 tbsp vegan cream cheese check ingredients to ensure soy-free and/or nut-free, if necessary. I use Daiya which is free of both.
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp green onions chopped
- 1 Tbsp fresh chives chopped, plus more for serving
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
For the aioli…
- ~1/2 cucumber peeled and deseeded (you’ll need 1/3 cup grated)
- 1/3 cup Vegenaise if necessary choose their soy-free variety
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp tsp sea salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Remove cauliflower florets from head, cut to about medium sized. Using a large pot with a steamer basket, steam cauliflower florets until thoroughly soft, about 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°.
- Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil. On the smaller of the two, place your garlic bulb, which has been cut down the middle horizontally. Drizzle garlic bulb with olive oil. Lightly oil the second baking sheet and cover it with the soft cauliflower florets. Place both the cauliflower and the garlic in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. You want the garlic starting to brown and the cauliflower dried out some.
- While the garlic and cauliflower are roasting, make your aioli. Grate your cucumber* and measure out 1/3 cup. Place the measured cucumber along with all other aioli ingredients into food processor and combine with blade attachment. Pour into a separate container (a squirt bottle makes for nice presentation), and place in refrigerator.
- When the garlic is roasted and has situntil cool enough to touch, squeeze out all cloves (they should slide right out). Place garlic cloves into cleaned food processor and mince. Now add cauliflower, cream cheese, salt, and pepper. Mix until completely smooth and fluffy. Be careful not to over process or it can become runny. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in rice flour, chives, and green onions.
- Form 6 equal patties with the cauliflower mixture (you can lay these out on wax paper until ready to cook). Heat a large skillet or flat grill to medium high heat. Once hot, spray with cooking oil and turn heat down to medium. Place cauliflower cakes on heated surface and cook about 4 – 5 minutes, until nicely browned on bottom. Carefully flip cakes. I found this easiest to do with a silicone spatula. Cook the other side until browned, about another 4 minutes. Serve topped with aioli and a sprinkle of fresh chives (chives are optional). Enjoy!
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