Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

Blazing Buffalo Cauliflower Bites with a healthy probiotic Blue Cheese dip

Cauliflower it's what's for dinner :) We love love love cauliflower it is so versatile, so neutral and what I believe as Gods gift to low carb eaters. You can replace it for mashed potatoes, use it to thicken/replace cream in soups, etc etc.. and now.. chicken!   What?? Come on there is no replacement for crispy fried chicken wings.
Well let me ask you this.. is it REALLY the chicken wing that you love? That almost nothing of a chicken part that you have to fight to find real meat between the bones and skin. Or is it just a vehicle for the condiments of hot sauce and blue cheese dressing? For us growing up in the upstate NY region 1 - 2 hrs from Buffalo there is nothing that can replace a true Buffalo chicken wing especially when sitting in a pub or bar with good friends! I don't expect that any bar/pub in the upstate region ever replacing the fried, crispy, easy, cheap buffalo chicken wing with a side of celery/carrots and blue cheese dressing.

But in our quest to move to cleaner eating I had to find a replacement for Chet's wing addiction. YES we have done the home version with baked chicken wings, or chicken tenders. While they are great substitutes for the fried version, I really wanted to go much cleaner and gluten free. I had seen people post about these buffalo cauliflower 'wings' on Facebook, twitter and Pinterest. I thought ohh interesting I'll try those one of these days.

Who needs Wings?

Well, one of these days was in May - at my college sorority reunion. Two of my friends that I have not seen in 15 years, asked me to pick them up from the airport and then we were to meet a few others at  an organic restaurant (that I never herd of in my home town) The Owl House.  Low and behold they had buffalo cauliflower bites on the menu. They were out of this world.. off the hook.. SOOO yummy with none of the guilt (I'll still fit into my dress :)). I thought one of these days I'll need to make these for Chet.

Fast forward to Aug, my cheese eating vegan friend Margot - (who shared the cauliflower bites with me in May) was coming to my house to visit. Ohh so excited.. and wanted to cook some clean eats for her. She requested Buffalo cauliflower bites.. Ok so I hit the internet and blogs, then made small batches of every recipe I found and improvised. I tried regular flour, rice flour, coconut flour.. You name it.. Added buttermilk, kefir whey etc.. Rice flour was gummy and YUK.. adding almond or coconut milk  didn't do it either. Ahh just right with gluten free AP flour (chick pea mix) and water. How easy!!

Next question was how to get the hot sauce on the cauliflower, some brushed it on, some poured it on. But I found that if you dunk the whole cooked flowerette into the sauce was the best way to impart the Buffalo red hot goodness :)

So easy!!

Battered and ready for the oven

Blazing Buffalo Cauliflower Bites (serves 4)
1 head of cauliflower broken up into small bite sized pieces
1/2 C GF all purpose flour
1/2 C water
1/2 tsp garlic powder or granules
Live salt and pepper
dash of turmeric (optional)

Hot sauce
1 tsp butter melted (or for a vegan option use Earth Balance butter substitute - I always use butter except when Margot comes)
1/2 C hot sauce

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Whisk together in a small bowl the flour, water, salt, pepper and garlic and turmeric. Let sit for a few minutes for the flour to absorb the water. The batter will be thin.
Dip each cauliflower piece in the batter and coat well. Shake off excess and place on a lightly greased baking pan.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the batter hardens. Carefully flip each one and bake for 5 minutes longer.
While cauliflower is baking melt the butter in a small glass bowl or measuring cup and stir in the hot sauce to combine.
Place each piece of cooked cauliflower in the sauce to coat and shake off excess. Place back on the baking pan and bake for about 5 - 10 minutes or until the sauce is absorbed.
Remove from oven and let cool.
Arrange on plate with Blue cheese dip. For added blue cheese flavor sprinkle blue cheese crumbles on top of the bites with a touch of sriracha

 Probiotic Blue cheese dip - Not Vegan :)
1/2 C greek yogurt (or kefir cheese)
1 tbs mayo (optional) - I only add when company is coming
1 green onions chopped - use both green and white
1 small garlic clove - finely minced (or for a more subtle garlic flavor smash 1 roasted garlic clove)
2 oz blue cheese crumbled - I use Roquefort
Live salt and pepper

 In a small bowl combine blue cheese, yogurt and mayo adding chopped green onions and garlic. Mix and add salt and pepper to taste. Chill while the cauliflower is baking and try not to eat it all before the cauliflower is done :)

Enjoy your clean eats!!