Switch Up Your Grill Routine with Grilled Cabbage Steaks and Spicy Chimichurri Lentils
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Vegetarian and vegan options often seem like an afterthought, and it can be disappointing to go to a cookout and only be able to eat fruit salad. But there are a lot of really great grilled vegetable options for people who follow a plant-based diet, or people who just like vegetables and want to eat more of them!
Cauliflower steaks have been extremely popular in recent years, and if you like those but want to try something a bit different, take a look at this smoky, flavorful grilled cabbage “steak” with crispy, charred edges and a spicy, herbal lentil chimichurri on top.
First, make the chimichurri by mixing parsley with jalapeño, garlic, capers, lemon juice, and olive oil. Add some salt and red pepper flakes, mix it well, and taste it to check the seasoning. Add just-cooked lentils to the chimichurri while they’re still warm from the stove, so they’ll absorb all those peppery, herbal flavors. Set it aside and let it rest while all the flavors blend together and soak into the lentils.
The key to a grillable cabbage “steak” is the way you cut it. Put it core-side up on the cutting board and cut it into four pieces. Each piece should be about an inch-and-a-half thick and have a piece of the core attached. The core is what holds it together on the grill, so this is one recipe where you don’t want to remove the core before cooking.
Spray both sides of the cabbage with avocado oil and season it with salt, pepper, and steak seasoning. Then put it on a hot grill for about five minutes on each side. It should be soft in the center. Make sure the edges are charred to give it that smoky, just-off-the-grill taste.
Top the finished cabbage with chimichurri lentils and drizzle the whole thing with a maple-mustard-tahini sauce made by whisking together tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup, mustard, and salt. Use real maple syrup if you can, because it will have a better, more maple-y flavor than the imitation variety. Whisk in some cold water and keep whisking until it’s smooth and creamy and a consistency that can easily be poured over the top of your cabbage and lentils.
Get the recipe: Cabbage Steaks with Jalapeño Chimichurri from The First Mess
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