May 16, 2022

VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Garlic Mushrooms Cauliflower Skillet

This is going to be a rather short post because this COVID has knocked me on my ass and it's hard to even keep my head up to type anything. I hope you enjoyed Jerry's post yesterday! I just couldn't bring myself to write, so I asked him to do it for me. That gave me a few hours to rest, since he types sooooo slowly ;)

The more I look at vegan recipes on Pinterest, the more I've craved mushrooms and cauliflower. I love both of those vegetables! However, I'm the only one in my family who likes them and so I don't get them very often. Once in a while, I'll buy a head of cauliflower, cut it into florets, and then roast it and eat it all myself. Same thing with the mushrooms, except I like to sauté the with olive oil and garlic.


For this recipe, however, I decided I was making it and the boys could just heat up a frozen pizza for dinner.

I chose this recipe for Garlic Mushroom Cauliflower Skillet by eatwell101. I'll spoil the ending though and say that it was definitely not as good as I was hoping. (I'll link to it again at the end of the post.) As always, I made it exactly as written (with an exception that was out of my control, which I'll write below).

The recipe is super straight forward. Ingredients: vegan butter, olive oil, onion, cauliflower, mushrooms, vegetable stock, thyme, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Easy peasy! (I added more vegan butter than what's shown; for some reason, I was thinking it was 2 Tbsp. when I took the picture but I actually needed 4 Tbsp.)


I prepped the veggies in the morning. The recipe didn't say to cut the mushrooms or slice them, and looking at the picture they were whole button mushrooms. However, my mushrooms were HUGE, so I did end up cutting them in half. Also, my store was out of fresh herbs (they seem to be out of stock on just about everything these days!) so I had to use dry thyme and parsley.

From here, nothing seemed to go right. I followed the instructions, which really stress to brown the mushrooms thoroughly but they were pretty dark by the time I added the cauliflower.


I was surprised that I wasn't supposed to add the cauliflower sooner. As the cauliflower cooked, the mushrooms continued to get darker and the cauliflower barely cooked at all.

I added the vegetable stock (it only called for two tablespoons) and it evaporated immediately. The mushrooms were starting to burn at this point, so I added about 2-3 more tablespoons of water and covered the pot to sort of steam the cauliflower. Finally, it started to work out. After a couple of minutes, the cauliflower was fork tender and the mushrooms were good. However, the recipe kept talking about the "sauce" and there certainly wasn't a sauce to speak of.

I added the garlic and herbs and cooked for a few more minutes and then it was done. I salted and peppered it, then poured a big bowl for me for my dinner--like I said, I was craving it! (Not exactly pretty, I know!)


It tasted good, but very underwhelming. It could very well be the fact that I wasn't able to use fresh herbs, but I think I could make this much better on my own. I don't like to write negative reviews for other people's things, but this recipe itself was not very helpful. It's hard not to see foods on Pinterest that catch my eye!

Since the family didn't try this, the only opinion to share is my own. And I have to say, I love the mushrooms and cauliflower (and garlic!) together, but for the recipe itself, it's not something I'll be doing again. I'll make something similar my own way. I think the biggest mistake was to add raw cauliflower to *very* browned mushrooms. (The recipe stated several times to make sure to brown the veggies very well).

So, overall, it wasn't a *total* bust if you just go with your instincts instead of following it as written. I have a ton of raw mushrooms and cauliflower in my fridge right now (I got a little carried away) so I'll likely make something similar this week sometime. I'd like to make a curry tonight to hopefully clear out my sinuses haha.


Now, it's back to resting and fighting off this COVID. I desperately want to get up and do stuff, but I get so winded so easily and my head is killing me. My book and movies it is, then!

I have some Transformation Tuesdays for tomorrow, which is awesome! I'd like to save a couple for next week as well, so if you don't see it up tomorrow, it's just because I'm saving it--I didn't forget, I promise! But still, please keep sending them--I'd rather have a surplus than be begging the day before ;)

And please please send you cleaning/organizing tips/pictures. I have only gotten a couple of them, so I'm really hoping for enough to make a post out of it. You can see this post for info: Spring Cleaning/Organizing.

Finally, here is the link for the Garlic Mushrooms Cauliflower Skillet if you feel so included to try it!

1 comment:

  1. Sending more healing vibes. Please don't push. Heal up. Hugs too.

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