Cajun Cauliflower Po'Boys with Homemade Remoulade Sauce

I've visited a lot of places and tried a lot of food, but there are only two places I've gone that had me thinking about the food long after I got home, and I mean desperately dreaming and wishing I could have another bite/lick/slurp of whatever goodness they were serving up: Amalfi, Italy; and New Orleans, Louisiana. There is so much that could be said about both from a food standpoint, but for me the two major things they have in common are: 1) The food is so good it's almost not believable, and 2) In both places the food feels like such a cultural cornerstone that it's really, really hard to recreate once you get back home.


For me this is the case particularly with New Orleans, because I wasn't vegetarian when I visited so many years ago. Almost everything I ate there (aside from the beignets and pralines - dang, my mouth is watering now!) was meat centric. There's not much I can do to recreate the fried chicken I had, but I can certainly give Po'boy sandwiches a try. For this recipe I used breaded cauliflower seasoned with Cajun spices, and a homemade remoulade sauce to recreate a catfish or shrimp type Po'boy, and it turned out so good. So, if you're like me, and you're looking for a yummy vegetarian option to a New Orleans classic, give this one a go!

PS if any of my readers are from New Orleans, let me know what you think! I found a recipe online for remoulade sauce, but I'm not sure how authentic it is. If you have any suggestions, I would love to see them in the comments! :)

Getting Started

Get started by making your remoulade sauce. Easy enough - just mix all of the ingredients together! I put mine together a couple of hours ahead of time to make things easier at dinner; this also allowed all of the flavors to mingle for a bit.

Next wash and separate your head of cauliflower. I broke mine into pieces that would fit nicely onto a sandwich, and cut the larger florets in half. Make sure to pat the pieces dry before dipping and dredging.

Once your florets are separated, mix up your batter and toss your breadcrumbs and spices. This is also a good time to heat your oil in a large skillet suitable for frying. Quick note: when a little bit of breadcrumb mixture sizzles when dropped in the oil, it should be hot enough to add your cauliflower.

Once your oil is a good temperature, dip your florets in the batter, then the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure everything is coated well, then carefully drop in the hot oil. Make sure not to add too many at one time, as this can lower the temperature of your oil. Cook on both sides until golden brown, then remove from oil and let drain on a dish coated with paper towels. A note about coating your florets: I found it easiest to drop several pieces in the batter and then the breadcrumbs at once to make things go a little faster.

After all of your florets are fried up and nice and golden brown, simply assemble your sandwiches and devour! I made mine with a whole wheat ciabatta roll, lightly buttered and heated in a skillet (which may not be very authentic, but was super tasty), and served them up with some vegetable chips for color and crunch, and pickle spears for a bit of tang. 

Give them a try and let me know what you think! Leave a comment below or tag me on social media with #thescatteredcook. I have FINALLY joined the Instagram world (@scatteredcook), so you can find me there too. Until next week!

Ingredients

• 1 small head of cauliflower, washed and separated/cut into pieces that will fit comfortably on a sandwich
• 4 whole grain ciabatta rolls
• Lettuce
• Tomato slices
• Pickles
• Vegetable oil - enough to have a depth of about 1/2-3/4 inches in the pan

Breadcrumb Mixture:

• 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 2 Tbs cajun seasoning (I found this in the ethnic aisle of my supermarket. For some reason the only one they had in the baking/spice aisle was $6 - ummm, no)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

Batter:

• 4 Tbs flour
• 2 eggs

Remoulade Sauce: The recipe I used came from Simply Recipes (link). I just made one real change to it and halved the recipe. Feel free to use the original version, or what I have listed below:

• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbs mayonnaise
• 2 Tbs horseraddish mustard
• 1/2 Tbs paprika
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 tsp pickle juice
• 1/2 tsp Tabasco hot sauce
• 1 small clove garlic, minced

Servings: 4 sandwiches

Like breaded cauliflower? Try out these Cauliflower Poppers 3 Ways: Buffalo, Honey BBQ, & Cheesy Jalapeño




Looking for other sandwich recipes? Try these on for size!

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