Oooh hey there, Vegetables! We haven't seen YOU here in awhile...
So we (our Marketing team) have pretty much been eating our weight in buffalo chicken-themed recipes this week, and if you're expecting me to type something like, "and we just can't take it anymore" or, "we've had enough" then you're WRONG. We could do this forever, but we literally ran out of chicken. There's no more chicken.
So, as necessity is the mother of invention, we finally decided to waddle over to the metaphorical produce section and select a different thing to smother in buffalo sauce! Hooray!
Here's the GREAT news: it's still so delicious. And it's quite simple, and non-intensive, and it makes cauliflower my new favorite flower. And my favorite cauli (sorry, Lassie).
Here's what you'll need for this slightly healthier, still-amazing recipe for
1 medium head of cauliflower, de-stemmed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour (worth the $4 to make everything crispy!)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp
Jacobsen Smoked Ghost Chili Pepper Salt
2/3 cup buffalo sauce
Buffalo Sauce Recipe:
Pour one cup of hot sauce in a pot (I used our newer line of
A&B Pepper Sauces, small-batch hot sauce made in Brooklyn with zero artificial flavorings or added sugars). They have 3 flavors, and heck if I didn't mix 'em all together like a buffalo-crazed genius. The mix ended up being about 60% Original, 30% Garlic, and 10% More Heat. Then add a half-cup of butter, which is 4 oz, and you can be fancy like me and use what I call "fun butter"—in this case I used Kerrygold grass fed butter from Ireland. Melt it up good and toss in 2 tablespoons of straight-up cayenne pepper. Mix well, pour onto everythang.
Buffalo Cauliflower Recipe:
1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, water, garlic powder, and salt and whisk it up!
2. Throw in your (washed) cauliflower bites and toss or gently stir to coat in the garbanzo flour mixture. This is what makes it crispy, so make sure each piece is coated.
3. Place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper or sprayed in nonstick cooking spray, and bake for 15 minutes, tossing halfway through.
4. Remove cauliflower and place back in the mixing bowl with your buffalo sauce. Toss or stir gently before placing the coated cauliflower back on the baking sheet.
5. Cook for an additional 20-25 minutes until every piece is crispy - let cool for about 10 minutes before serving, especially if you're in the mood for finger-food.
Guess what?
I made a bonus dip for this dish, because
I happen to be a champion food-dipper and I think this adds a lightness to any dish. Take a cup of plain Greek yogurt, add a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, and a tablespoon of fresh dill. So easy, so good... You'll want to put it on everything.
Trust me, it's kind of a big dill...
Note:
What do you do if you don't have garbanzo bean flour? Our author answers: "Cool question! Garbanzo bean flour is considered a heavier flour with a pronounced flavor, so you could sub out for whole wheat flour, cup for cup. You could also sub out for a half and half mix of all-purpose flour and cornmeal, which will keep you cauliflower crispy. I found my garbanzo bean flour at a local, bargain grocery store, so it wasn't hard to find at all—to be completely honest, you could also skip the batter entirely and just let the oven do the crisping! Just make sure to turn every 5-10 minutes so one side doesn't get too dark.
