Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

I just went to a conference on Nutrition and Cardiovascular Disease and saw amazing photos of regression of coronary artery disease after total change in diet to a plant based diet. Intermittently I think about modifying my diet further in that direction. Although my diet has been plant-dominant for years, I do still eat animal products. This recipe is from one of the FIVE books I purchased at the conference – not all cookbooks! All 5, though, do say that you’d better become a vegan – or else!

This recipe comes from The China Study – Quick and Easy Cookbook by Del Sroufe, published this year. The title refers to the China Study, which warns not to eat dairy products, and of course favors a whole food, plant based diet.

Here’s a recipe that the author and Pamela Popper, PhD, ND recommended to me, as one that carnivores also love. It only took a few minutes to prepare and, I must admit, I was scraping the bits off of the baking pan. Perhaps you can sneak these in during football season as faux buffalo chicken wings! Let me know how that works for you 😉

Instead of the hot sauce, I used a combination of medium salsa and shakshuka sauce. The latter is a Moroccan spiced tomato sauce made by Mina that I found at Whole Foods that has only natural ingredients. The nutritional yeast was Braggs, probably from whole foods.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup almond butter
1/2 cup red hot sauce, and extra for tossing with the cooked bites (or salsa, healthy BBQ or Shakshuka)
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated garlic
1 large head cauliflower, cut into 1-inch florets (about 6 cups)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine everything but the cauliflower in a large bowl. Mix well. It will be thick, but will coat the cauliflower well.
3. Add the cauliflower and toss to coat well.
4. Place the coated florets on a non-stick or oiled baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Toss with extra red hot sauce if desired.