Vegetarian’s Guest Post: Potato and Cauliflower Gratin

You must be thinking, “wow, yet another guest post from the vegetarian?? I thought she never cooked?!! What’s going on?!”

Well, I was recently on a month-long break from school for the holidays, so I spent slightly more time in the kitchen than usual. Aside from baking cookies, and my standard un-blog-worthy usuals (who cares about pasta, beans, cheese, and peas tossed with lemon juice and olive oil?? I make that 80% of the time I cook…), I whipped up an only slightly more complicated recipe that has become one of my standbys with time. I originally broke this recipe out for a special birthday meal for the carnivore over 3 years ago. Back then we were part of a CSA that included farm fresh eggs, so we had a ton to spare every week. I have since made it for many occasions, including Passover seder and other dinner parties. It’s always a guest favorite (shhhh don’t tell the carnivore—he thinks everyone loves his dishes best!).

You can make this recipe with literally ANY vegetable—it’s a spin off of Deborah Madison’s eggplant gratin from this cookbook. I’ve made it with different combinations of eggplant, onions, tomatoes, asparagus, zucchini, squash, herbs (the original recipe calls for basil) and of course, potato and cauliflower. It’s great for clearing those extra veggies than need to be cooked asap out of the fridge. It’s easy, pretty healthy, and plus it’s both gluten free and vegetarian, making it a hit for both me and my sister-in-law, as well as guests without dietary restrictions.

So without further ado, here’s the recipe. It serves about 4 for a main course, and more as a side dish.

4 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 head of cauliflower
1 cup milk (we use lactose-free in our house)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Prep the vegetables. For this rendition, blanch the potatoes until tender. Shock with cold water to prevent overcooking. Trim the heads off cauliflower.
  3. In a greased 2-quart baking dish, layer the potatoes evenly, and then top with cauliflower heads.
  4. Beat the eggs with milk and vinegar, and then stir in cheese. Add salt and pepper.
  5. Pour mixture over vegetables.
  6. Bake until golden and firm, about 45 minutes (begin checking after 30 minutes). Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.



This entry was posted in anna, eggs, main course, potato, side dish, vegetarian. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Vegetarian’s Guest Post: Potato and Cauliflower Gratin

  1. Angela says:

    This looks absolutely fantastic. I’ve been trying to find more vegetarian recipes, so thank you so much!

  2. It is really adaptable too, you can easily pick the veggies you like to add to it.

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