Hands up if you’ve ever asked out loud “Hey Siri, what’s for dinner?” If your hand went up, I bet Siri didn’t reply “Roasted cauliflower steaks with Thomas hommus and rocket”! That is unless you asked the original Aussie voice of ’Siri’, Karen Jacobsen, a gorgeous gal from Mackay, Queensland, Australia, who’s been telling people where to go for quite some time. While hers is the voice of reason we can trust, did you know that through her songs, concert performances, and speaking presentations, she entertains and inspires people to recalculate their way to their dream destination in life?
Driven to follow her dream and born to light up the stage, Karen moved to New York City with one suitcase becoming an award-winning Singer and Songwriter. Musical career highlights include: sharing the stage with Norah Jones, Neil Sedaka, Jon English and Christopher Cross, national anthem performances at major sporting events – Madison Square Garden, Fenway Park, Dodger Stadium, for 80,000 at Giants Stadium for a New York Jets game, Queensland’s Suncorp Stadium for an Australia vs South Africa TriNations International Rugby Game for 52,000 – and licensing her songs to US network television.
In her first years in New York City, she auditioned to record a text to speech voice system, having no idea it would take her voice to every corner of the globe. From that one voice-over booking she created her empowerment brand The GPS Girl®, giving directions for life and business and showing how to navigate change powerfully with the 5 Directions for Recalculating process.
Karen, her husband Tom and I met in paradise in the spring of 2020, at lunch on Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, where we were guests of a mutual dear friend, John Hansen. I was particularly enthralled at their real-life escape from New York, and over lunch, I soon discovered they switched to a vegan diet. Together with their young son, they thought they were coming to Australia from their New York City home of 20 years for a few weeks to visit family at the beginning of the pandemic. Recalculating everything and coming full circle, they since found themselves as locals in the glorious Whitsunday region and count their lucky stars every day to be here.
In life, many paths are crossed, and more recently, many roads lead from SIRI, so it is fitting that in a late 1970’s living room in Mackay, a seven-year-old Karen Jacobsen saw Olivia Newton-John on the telly and knew what she was meant to do with her life; to become a professional singer and move to America. Now, I am pretty darn sure that TV show was my very own father’s Kevin Dennis New Faces!
Howabout that for some cosmic navigating?!
“No meat doesn’t mean no flavour”
Let’s U-Turn back to food. Vowing to keep in touch after our initial meeting, I am delighted to share with you what started out as a simple recipe request is now a fully baked Cookalong with Tom and Karen.
In this Cookalong, these gorgeous, dedicated vegans of eight years share their insights, motivations, and intentions as Tom prepares his delicious forest of goodness, Roasted cauliflower steaks with Tom’s “Thomas hommus” and rocket leaves. Interestingly we chat about the switch to plant-based and full-time veganism in our chat. They talk about their experiences with plant-based protein and how the desire for a vegan sausage or burger is steeped in nostalgia, a recurring theme in the Plant-Based Diets: Nutrition & Wellness course available online.
You might like to download the recipe and shop in advance so you can Cookaloang with Tom and Karen. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the ride!
You have reached your destination!
Roasted cauliflower steaks, Tom’s “Thomas hommus” and rocket leaves
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2 with leftovers 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
For the cauliflower steaks
1 whole cauliflower, stem down, cut carefully into 2cm wide sliced “steaks”
Salt
Olive oil
Pepper
Pinch ground turmeric
For Thomas hommus
1 x 400 gram can chickpeas, drained, aquafaba reserved
1/4 cup aquafaba, save the rest for other recipes – see note
5 cloves garlic, peeled, roughly chopped
Pinch to 1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan salt
1/2 – 1 lemon juice only, depending on size of lemons – and your taste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons white tahini, hulled
To serve
1-2 cups Rocket leaves, washed and thoroughly dried
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C. fan forced.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper. Arrange cauliflower on baking tray.
- Sprinkle with salt and drizzle or spray olive oil.
- Add cracked pepper and a pinch of turmeric, more if you like.
- Bake for around 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the Thomas hommus.
- Place in a NutriBullet or a high-speed blender of your choice.
- Add half of the chickpeas, then garlic, Himalayan salt, lemon juice, turmeric cayenne pepper, olive oil, tahini and remaining chickpeas.
- Process on high to your desired consistency.
- Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
- Plate the roasted cauliflower with a good dollop of Thomas hommus and a side of rocket leaves.
Notes
Aquafaba is the viscous water in which legume seeds such as chickpeas have been cooked. Due to its ability to mimic functional properties of egg whites in cooking, aquafaba can be used as a direct replacement for them in some cases, including meringues and marshmallows. It is especially suitable for use by people who avoid eggs, such as vegans. Source: WIKI
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Vegan
- Cuisine: Plant-based
Find Karen
Shows & Retreats
Mackay to Manhattan – a Musical Memoir, Karen Jacobsen’s part concert part motivational show.
Mastermind Retreats in the beautiful Whitsundays. It’s a luxury experience where clarity, confidence and focus will be yours, in an intimate setting with a collaborative spirit.
You might also like …
Here’s a promo clip from the Kevin Dennis Football Show that you might enjoy.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.