This recipe for Easy & Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites is a great vegetarian alternative to Buffalo wings. Roasted cauliflower stands in for chicken and provides more vitamins and minerals and fewer calories. Serve this easy appetizer just as you would a spicy chicken wing. Even better is to use the same sauce for both these Spicy Cauliflower Bites and a Boneless Chicken Wing and see if anyone can tell the difference.
The Sauce
The main ingredient in this sauce is (Help support our site!)Sambal. It is usually made using chili pepper, garlic, shallot and tomato and are often freshly ground using a mortar, while the shrimp paste is fried or burned first to kill its pungent smell as well as to release its aroma. (Help support our site!)Sambal might be prepared in bulk, as it can be easily stored in a well-sealed glass jar in the refrigerator for a week to be served with meals as a condiment.
The second main ingredient is (Help support our site!)Sriracha. Unless you have been on the moon for the past few years you should know what (Help support our site!)Sriracha is. Just in case, (Help support our site!)Sriracha is a type of hot sauce or chili sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. It is spicy and garlicy and just plain delicious. Sorry (Help support our site!)Franks Red Hot, but I put this on everything.
In this recipe for Spicy Cauliflower Bites this sauce is used as a coating while roasting and a dipping sauce. It keeps quite well and tastes better once left to meld if left in the fridge for a few days before using.
Making the Spicy Cauliflower Bites
This recipe calls for cutting up a cauliflower. Once cut, remove the core and break down the florets into smallish pieces. The goal is to create as much surface area as possible. This will bring out the sweetness in the cauliflower and also cook off the sulfates that make cauliflower “aromatic”. Toss them in the oven with the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and roast until they start to brown. Once they get some brown bits, coat with some of the sauce mix and put back into the oven until they are cooked through. Plate, sprinkle on some crumbled blue cheese and serve with the rest of the sauce. Enjoy, knowing that you are eating a relatively healthy snack.
Spicy Cauliflower Bites
Equipment
- (Help support our site!)Cutting Board
- (Help support our site!)Chefs Knife
- (Help support our site!)Paring Knife
- (Help support our site!)Sheet Tray
- (Help support our site!)Mixing Bowl
- (Help support our site!)Whisk
Ingredients
- 2 heads Cauliflower Cut into florets
- ⅓ cup(s) Olive Oil
- 1 to taste Salt & Pepper
- 1 tbsp(s) Garlic Minced
The Asian Buffalo Sauce
- 16 ounces Blue Cheese Dressing
- 2 tbsp(s) Sriracha Sauce
- 1 tbsp(s) Sambal Sauce (Ground Chili Paste)
- 8 ounces Crumbled Blue Cheese
Instructions
- Gather ingredients and unpack cauliflower.
- Begin by cutting cauliflower into florets. See How To Video
- Place cauliflower florets into a bowl and season with salt, pepper and garlic.
- Place onto a sheet tray. Place into a 375° degree oven for about 6-8 minutes till tender.
- In a mixing bowl add blue cheese dressing, Sambal, Sriracha sauce and 4 oz. blue cheese crumble.
- Whisk together well to incorporate ingredients. it should turn a reddish color depending on amount of Hot chili paste is desired. Set aside and wait for cauliflower to be removed from oven.
- Pull cauliflower out and add to bowl. Pour sauce on top of florets and mix till cauliflower is coated.
- Once coated well, place onto same sheet tray and put into oven and cook for another 7-9 minutes.
- When cooked pull from oven.
- Place onto a serving tray, and in a smaller bowl pour extra sauce for dipping.
