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Gratin (/ˈgrätn/): In the culinary arts, the term gratin refers to a dish that is baked with a topping of seasoned breadcrumbs and cheese. The gratin topping should be golden brown, which can be achieved by baking or by placing the dish under a broiler.
Now you would think that 12+ years of french class (I was in french immersion) would have taught me that but no…the late great Julia Child is responsible for introducing me to this french word. I have a serious obsession with Julia Child. I’ve read her biography “My Life In France” multiple times, paid way too much for an original copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (which I then proceeded to lose gah!) and Julie & Julia might be my favourite movie of all time.
Julia is famous for her Potatoes au Gratin recipe which I’ll be honest, I have yet to try. I’m a crispy potato kind of gal. But no surprise, the recipe consists of butter, cheese, potatoes and more butter!!! She is known for saying “if you’re afraid of butter, use cream!” While I wish I could live life this way my stomach would probably rebel against me. I figured this recipe could use a makeover…even if it does make Julia roll over in her grave.
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For my version I swapped in cauliflower for potatoes, kept things dairy-free and used my favourite chili flavoured Simply Chips to up the protein and lower the guilt. It doesn’t exactly taste like 5-year aged Gouda, but for being entirely dairy-free this is good. Plus I am proud of my kitchen creations, even if they don’t exactly compare to the original. I think Julia would be proud too 🙂
Dairy-Free Cauliflower Gratin
- Yield: 4 sides 1x
Ingredients
- 1 large head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk (warmed)
- 3 T tapioca starch (any starch or flour will work)
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 cup crumbled Simply Chips or Bread Crumbs
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place cauliflower florets on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Roast for 15 mins. Remove from oven and flip florets. Roast for another 10 mins until golden brown.
- Meanwhile, cook onion on stovetop with 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat for about 5 mins.
- Combine warmed almond milk with tapioca starch.
- Turn stove down to low and mix almond milk with onions.
- Stir until mixture has thickened.
- Add in nutritional yeast and salt and pepper.
- Combine stovetop mixture with cauliflower and add to an 8 x 8 baking dish.
- Crumble Simply Chips or breadcrumbs on top.
- Bake in 425 degree F oven for another 20 mins.
This looks amazing! I love trying new recipes and I’ll have to give this one a shot.
I love the movie Julie & Julia.
And @ [email protected] – my sister actually lives in Munich! I spend three weeks in Bavaria last September. I didn’t try gratin though, I will make a point to do that on my next visit.
Oh, and thank you for stopping by my blog! 🙂
Thank YOU for stopping by!!! Julie & Julia is the best isn’t it? All of you world travellers make me so jealous! It’s been forever since I travelled anywhere!
This Cauliflower Gratin sounds amazing. I love that you add more protein and less “guilt” in it. 🙂 Can’t wait to give this a try.
Yes!! Please do! Simply Chips are so versatile. You should give them a try!
I remembered having gratin for the first time in Munchen (Munich, Germany). It was divine. I want to go back there now. If you’re interested, here is the link to the restaurant review: https://veganmiam.com/europe/germany/munchen-max-pett
Mmmm I’ve been seeing a lot of cauliflower ingredient that replaces potatoes! I would love to have a bite of the cauliflower gratin, please!
How I wish I could jet off to Germany! That restaurant looks incredible. I’m jealous of all your traveling escapades. Pack me in your suitcase next time 😉
This looks SO good! I need to find more dairy free recipes! 🙂
There definitely are not enough out there. Hopefully I can contribute some 🙂
This looks amazing! I love cauliflower and use it to make rice, mashed “faux-potatoes”, and pizza crust so I’m sure I would love this!
Yes!!! I love cauliflower rice and pizza crust! It’s such a versatile food.
So I know we were just talking about cookies on Twitter, but now I’m thinking that I could definitely go for a slice of this. Holy.snap it looks delicious! I love that you experimented and made it your own… Julia would definitely be proud 😀
Awww thank you Amanda! No reason you can’t eat both right??
Ohhh if only my tummy could handle cauliflower! Recipes looks so good!
Ooooooh noooo! The original recipe with potatoes might be better for you then! Thank you Kierston 🙂
Hello! I nominated you for the sunshine award! Check out my blog at https://runlikeag.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-sunshine-award.html
Heather you are seriously the best!!! Thank you for the nomination 🙂
This recipe is absolutely perfect. I was wondering how you healthified Julia Childs recipes… and here it is! I love making these kinds of dishes in my cast iron skillet!
I really need to buy a cast-iron skillet! This would be perfect in one 🙂
I love that you swapped out the potatoes for cauliflower and made this dairy free! Definitely putting it on my list of recipes to try,
Thanks Kathryn! Love Julia’s recipes but all the butter and cheese definitely catches up with me. This is a perfect substitute 🙂