♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - This week on Milk Street, we let vegetables take the center of the plate.

We begin with cauliflower steaks with pickled peppers, capers, and parmesan.

Then it's on to mushroom and cheese quesadillas.

And finally, we make the classic Italian bread salad panzanella with fresh mozzarella.

Stay tuned as we put aside the meat and let vegetables take center stage.

- Funding for this series was provided by the following.

- That meal.

You sautéed, you seared, and you served, cooking with All-Clad, bonded cookware designed, engineered, and assembled in the U.S.A. for over 50 years.

All-Clad-- for all your kitchen adventures.

- It is true that America has never been kind to vegetables.

If you look at the 1940s edition of The Boston Cooking School Cookbook, 757 pages, of which 42 have to do with vegetable recipes.

Here's an example: Carrots Huntington, four cups carrots cooked with a half a cup of butter and a half a cup of cream-- not ideal.

Now, the rest of the world, meat-- except for England, maybe-- was used as a flavoring.

So, the Middle East, you have tabbouleh and baba ghanoush and hummus, a shaved carrot salad from Argentina, winter vegetable stews from Athens, et cetera, et cetera.

In other words, the rest of the world knew how to put vegetables in the center of the plate.

So today, we want to make three recipes that we think really represent the best of cooking vegetables.

The first is cauliflower steaks with pickled peppers, capers, and parmesan, then a quesadilla with mushroom and cheese filling, and finally, with a classic from Italy, a panzanella with fresh mozzarella.

So let's start with the cauliflower steaks with pickled peppers, capers, and parmesan.

♪ ♪ - So I have a confession to make.

I don't naturally love vegetables, but I do try to eat a lot of vegetables, so I'm always on the lookout for a super-interesting or flavorful vegetable recipe.

And this recipe for cauliflower steaks with pickled peppers, capers, and parmesan is just that kind of a recipe.

It's inspired by a recipe from Joshua McFadden's cookbook Six Seasons.

It's got tons of big flavor, but it's also really layered and complex and it comes together super-quick and easy.

It's a great vegetarian main meal.

So let's start with the cauliflower.

I have two heads of cauliflower here that I'm gonna cut into steaks.

Just gonna cut it in half first.

And then I'm going to cut each half into about a one-and-a-half-inch-thick steak.

And this is a sheet that I misted with cooking spray, so I'm gonna place them right on there.

Now, the only problem with this recipe is that you do have some left over.

Because these are not connected to the core anymore, we can't use them as steaks.

But what they are great for is making cauliflower rice.

You can just put this in a food processor and grate it up.

You can take these pieces and roast them, so you have vegetables for another meal.

Mix them into soups.

A colleague puts them in mashed potatoes, which I think is a really great idea.

So lots of uses for those, and you get a two-for-one.

♪ ♪ So I'm gonna brush these with extra virgin olive oil on both sides and season them with salt and pepper.

♪ ♪ So I'm gonna put the cauliflower in a really hot oven, 500 degrees, and let the cauliflower roast alone, without the topping that we're eventually going to add.

It's going to take about 20 minutes.

You want the cauliflower to be really well-browned on the bottom.

♪ ♪ So while the cauliflower's roasting, I'm going to mix together the topping that's going to go on the cauliflower.

This is super-flavorful.

We've got just a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.

Sweet pickled peppers.

If you can find the South African Juanita pepper, they're really great here, they're nice and sweet.

Otherwise, any sweet pickled pepper will do.

And capers.

What's really important with these two ingredients is to really pat them dry before you mix them up.

We want to make sure we minimize as much moisture as possible before we roast this, so that it gets nice and brown.

We have grated parmesan cheese.

And some fresh parsley.

So this is going to add a lot of flavor on here.

It's salty, it's sweet, it's got a little bit of heat from those peppers.

It's just almost like a really flavorful kind of crust on top of the cauliflower.

It's really great.

♪ ♪ Okay, the cauliflower should be ready.

Don't these look great?

They're nice and brown, and now I'm just going to spoon this topping on.

I want to make sure every single bite has some of this amazing topping, because this is really what makes this dish.

So this is just going to go back in the oven for about ten minutes or so.

We want that topping to get well-browned and the cauliflower to be really nice and tender.

So the cauliflower's finished, it looks amazing.

♪ ♪ Look at that.

So, cauliflower steaks with pickled peppers, capers, and parmesan.

Really well-browned cauliflower with that super-flavorful topping.

You want to make sure you get that topping in every bite.

Wow, it's so good.

It has tons of flavor.

Just those little pops of the capers and the peppers.

Got a little bit of heat from the peppers, and it's tender but crispy on the outside.

Cauliflower steaks with pickled peppers, capers, and parmesan: a great vegetarian main meal.

It even satisfies a sort of non-vegetable lover like me.

♪ ♪ - These are our Mexican-inspired mushroom and cheese quesadillas.

Throughout Mexico, quesadillas can be made with pretty much any ingredient you have on hand.

They might have cheese, they might not have cheese.

You might have some meat on hand, throw that in.

Any kind of vegetable works really well.

Squash blossoms are really common in Oaxaca when they make quesadillas.

So anything you have, really.

Today, we are focusing on mushrooms and cheese, and we are going to start with some onion, as well.

So we're going to preheat a non-stick skillet.

We're going to add two tablespoons of oil.

This is a neutral-flavored oil, such as canola, corn oil, any good vegetable oil.

So we're going to get that started over medium-high.

Now, in Mexico, they'd be using a comal, which is the flat metal cooking surface.

And they'd be using that both to sauté and char their vegetables and to cook the tortillas.

We like a non-stick skillet for browning the tortillas.

It works better than stainless steel.

So we're going to use it for the whole process.

We've got some shimmer on this oil.

We are ready to add the onions.

(sizzling) ♪ ♪ I'm going to stir that well to get the onions coated with the oil, and then we're going to let those cook for five to eight minutes, until they take on some nice brown color.

Okay, while those cook a little bit, let's talk about the mushrooms.

You can use any variety of mushrooms you have.

Sometimes, in the grocery store, you'll find a pack of mushrooms already mixed together.

Usually that will include something like cremini, maybe some shiitakes, a little bit of oyster mushrooms-- whatever you have and whatever you like.

If the only thing you can find is white domestic mushrooms or cremini mushrooms, choose the cremini.

Those brown mushrooms will have a little bit more flavor.

The assortment we're using today is the common portabella mushrooms-- these are huge mushrooms, we cut them up in small pieces.

We also have some shiitake mushrooms.

These have a flatter cap on them.

They have a tough, chewy stem, so you want to remove the stem before you chop the cap.

And these gray-toned mushrooms are oyster mushrooms.

They're delicious.

They're also beautiful in color to look at.

And then last but not least, we have some cremini mushrooms.

These look like your traditional white button mushrooms, but they have a brown cap and they're a little more intense in flavor.

We're also going to be removing those stems, like that, before we chop them up.

So we have a pound of mushrooms in total.

They're all been finely chopped.

This will just help them cook down a little bit faster.

They're also easier to eat inside the quesadilla when you take a bite.

I think our onions are ready here.

Yes, these look beautiful.

You can see they've softened their texture and they've taken on a lot of beautiful golden color.

So I'm going to just move those to the side a little bit and we'll add the mushrooms.

♪ ♪ This looks like a lot of mushrooms in this pan, but as mushrooms cook, they release a lot of liquid and they cook down quite a lot, so their size is going to reduce and shrink, and we'll end up with something very manageable.

Now, to this mixture, I'll add a half a teaspoon of salt and a half a teaspoon of pepper.

♪ ♪ All right, so we'll leave the skillet on medium-high.

These will take about seven to eight minutes to cook down fully.

We'll give them a stir every now and then, and you will see, as their liquid reduces, their flavor and smell will really intensify.

♪ ♪ And the mushrooms are ready.

You can see that the volume has reduced quite a lot.

They have a beautiful golden tone, and if you push them aside, there's no liquid remaining in them, so they're done.

I'm going to turn this off.

And then we are going to add a little bit of chopped garlic and a little bit of chipotle in adobo sauce.

This adds a spicy kick to the filling and a little bit of smokiness, too.

(sizzling) We're going to stir this around.

The pan is still really hot.

We'll let the garlic and the chipotle get a little heated up.

If I could share this smell with you, I would.

We'll transfer this mixture to a bowl.

Effortless, slides right out.

And we're going to wipe the skillet down just a little bit.

Because we're going to use the same skillet to cook the quesadillas in a little bit.

To the mushrooms we'll stir in a little bit of freshly chopped cilantro.

It gives a bright punch of herbal flavor.

And we'll stir in a small amount of shredded cheese.

Just like the other ingredients, it's very flexible on which cheese you use, or if you use cheese at all.

Good cheeses to use for this are anything that melts really nicely.

You can use mozzarella, cheddar, Monterey Jack, or a little Pepper Jack if you want a little extra kick beyond the chipotles.

Okay, this is done.

You can see the cheese is just starting to melt.

I'm going to set this aside and show you the cheese that we're using.

It's a traditional cheese from Oaxaca, Mexico.

It's called quesillo.

The texture is very similar to mozzarella.

It comes in a big ball like this.

It's usually looks like a wrapped-up rope of cheese.

It's actually pretty cool.

And when you pull it apart, those ropes of cheese come apart and then you pull that apart even further, and it is the closest resemblance to string cheese.

So when it's in a big ball like this, it's very easy to grate.

And you just grate as much as you need and put the rest back in the fridge.

This makes enough filling for eight tortillas.

They're on the small side, but we're going to cook four of them at a time in the skillet, so I'll get four going.

These are flour tortillas.

Now, depending on where in Mexico you are, you might find they use flour tortillas more, or you might find they use corn tortillas more.

Either one will work for these quesadillas.

We're using flour today.

They're about five to six inches in diameter.

We'll get four going at once.

The main thing I want to tell you is, you want a soft, flexible tortilla.

You don't want something that's going to crack when you fold it in half.

So something soft and flexible like this is good.

We'll take this.

Put a little bit of filling on each one.

So we'll use about half the filling for these four tortillas.

♪ ♪ Spread it out.

The filling is going over half of it because we're going to fold the other half over... ...to a half-moon.

Now, press firmly.

The filling is warm, the cheese is melty, so the tortilla will stick to it.

We'll add another tablespoon of oil and heat that over medium-high till it's nice and hot.

We've made these quesadillas with either lard or vegetable oil.

It's the vegetarian show, so of course we're using vegetable oil.

But if you have lard, go right ahead and use that.

It gives a little more flavor and a little extra crispiness to the tortillas.

Okay, the oil is nice and hot.

There's just a tablespoon in here.

We'll add four tortillas at once.

The filling is already cooked, so really, we're just trying to crisp the tortillas themselves.

♪ ♪ Just press down a little.

You want to get a nice golden surface, nice crunch on the outside.

If your pan is hot enough, they'll get nice and gold and crispy in about two minutes on one side.

Then we'll flip them over and give them another two to three minutes.

Ooh, okay.

I think my pan was hot enough.

(laughs) I am definitely not opposed to a little bit of char on a tortilla.

These are fantastic.

As a matter of fact, quesadillas would traditionally be cooked on a grill in Mexico.

You could also use a cast-iron griddle, and if you have a comal, by all means use that.

♪ ♪ All right, now, we'll repeat the process with the next four tortillas.

If you find yourself delayed between tortillas one and tortilla two, you can always keep these warm in the oven until they're ready to serve and have them all done at the same time.

The last of the two quesadillas are ready to be removed from the pan, nice and hot, a little crispy.

The only reason I'm using a knife and a fork here is to cut this open and show you the inside.

We have got a really beautiful quesadilla, with a crispy tortilla on the outside and a cheesy mushroom filling with a little spicy kick from the chipotle chili.

And that is all there is to a really nice mushroom cheese quesadilla.

♪ ♪ - Who doesn't love a good bread salad?

I know I definitely do.

But one of the things I find is, sometimes, tomatoes in this bread salad are not up to scratch.

What do we do when we don't have great produce, but we want a great salad?

We're taking inspiration for this recipe from a recipe by Abra Berens in her cookbook Ruffage.

This is panzanella with mozzarella.

Let's get started.

To begin, I'm going to salt my tomatoes.

I'm going to add a half-teaspoon of salt.

This is going to draw out the flavor and make sure I have really rich, sweet savoriness from this tomato.

So, let's stir that up well and let it set aside for a few minutes.

♪ ♪ I'm going to let that sit and move on to my onions.

I have here sliced red onion.

And what we're going to do is quick-pickle it with a little bit of sherry vinegar and a touch of salt.

♪ ♪ This is going to bring a nice head of crisp acidity to our salad.

We're going to let that sit, and let's move on to our bread.

So for this recipe, I'm using crusty white bread, it's been sliced into half-inch slices, and I'm just going to tear it up roughly with my hands straight into the skillet.

We're using a cold skillet-- it's kind of functioning as my bowl here.

♪ ♪ So then my bread is in the pan.

I'm going to add some olive oil.

I love this approach because it skips the oven entirely-- I'm toasting the bread directly in the skillet.

A quarter-teaspoon salt for here.

♪ ♪ So I've turned the heat on to medium, and I'm going to keep stirring the bread and toast it for four to eight minutes.

♪ ♪ So a few ways for us to check that our bread is done.

I like to listen to my bread-- my bread always talks to me.

You'll hear some of the crispy crackling sound.

I see golden brown edges starting to form and there's this lovely aroma of toasted bread.

So this is ready to go straight into our tomato mix.

♪ ♪ I'm going to stir this together and let this sit aside while I prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Let's move on to the cheese.

Traditionally, we use burrata, which is a cream-filled fresh mozzarella.

Now, that's not always easy to find, so we have a brilliant hack for this recipe.

We're going to use regular fresh mozzarella-- very important to get the kind that's packed in water-- and we're going to doctor it up a little bit.

Let me show you how.

We start with the fresh mozzarella.

We're going to tear it with our hands into bite-sized chunks.

♪ ♪ So I've torn up my mozzarella into bite-sized chunks in the bowl.

Now, here's the great hack: because we don't have burrata, I'm going to add some cream to our torn-up mozzarella.

So the cream is going to mimic the richness of the burrata.

♪ ♪ And there's a little extra ingredient that I really love in this recipe: grated lemon zest.

It's going to add some life and flavor, some citrusy tang.

And to that I'm going to add a pinch of salt and a little bit of pepper.

I'm going to mix this and set this aside and not use it until we're ready to serve the dish.

That looks so rich and inviting.

Let's turn back to our tomato and bread mixture.

And to this we're going to add our quick-pickled onions.

I'm going to use a slotted spoon, because I don't want all the sherry vinegar to come with.

So I'm just taking out the onions, and we're putting them into our main bowl.

♪ ♪ Now, I do want to reserve this remaining sherry vinegar.

I'll keep this aside, and I can use it to drizzle on top at the end if I wish.

So I've got in here my toasted bread, I've got my salted tomatoes, I've got the quick-pickled onions, and now I'm ready to add our herbs.

I have full, fresh flat-leaf parsley here.

No need to chop this up.

So let's put this in, it's beautiful.

♪ ♪ And I also have some fresh basil here.

These are quite large, so I'm just going to roughly tear them.

This is a rustic salad.

So these torn, rough textures are really beautiful in it.

Look at that color, it's so gorgeous.

I'm going to mix this up, and then it's going to be ready to be plated.

So this has all been mixed nicely and all well-incorporated.

I'm ready to plate my dish.

♪ ♪ And now we add the final star, our mozzarella that's been sitting in the cream and the lemon zest.

This is looking so delicious and gorgeous.

I cannot wait.

I'm going to drizzle it with some olive oil to finish.

And here it is, our panzanella with mozzarella salad.

It is an all-year-round, summer-on-your-plate salad, a delicious mix of colors and contrasts.

We've got those tomatoes in there, salted, so that even if you have substandard produce, it's no problem at all.

One of my favorite go-to weeknight meals.

Here it is.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes of this season on MilkStreetTV.com.

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- Funding for this series was provided by the following.

- That meal.

You sautéed, you seared, and you served, cooking with All-Clad, bonded cookware designed, engineered, and assembled in the U.S.A. for over 50 years.

All-Clad-- for all your kitchen adventures.

- Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to be the first to welcome you to Tel Aviv... - Welcome to Oaxaca's airport.

- Welcome to Beirut.

♪ ♪ (man speaking Hebrew) - (speaking world language) - Bonjour, je m'appelle Chris.

- We call it supa kanja.

It's the word for gumbo.

♪ ♪ - Christopher, you have to make the authentic, original cotoletta alla Bolognese for me.

♪ ♪ - So this is the Eduardo García blender.

- This is the no electricity.

♪ ♪ - Next is dessert.

- That is really good.

♪ ♪ I notice when you cook sometimes, you add a little bit of something, and then you just put the whole bowl in.

- I like to be generous with my food.

Generosity is important in cooking.

- That's true.

♪ ♪ - Can start building bridges, and food is definitely a perfect common ground.

♪ ♪ - This is a generational thing.

It's, it's something that you inherit.

♪ ♪ - Yeah, that was great.

(woman speaking Mandarin) - What was this for?

What did she say?

- You get one more chance.

- Salute.

- How is it?

He's speechless.

- I'm speechless.

That's so good.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪