Superbowl Sunday: Buffalo Cauliflower

So, apparently it’s Superbowl Sunday, or as we refer to it at my house, [Insert Your Favorite Chick Flick] Sunday. I don’t care about sports. I don’t care about football. I don’t even pretend to care about football for boys I think are cute. But, I do care about food. Especially junk food.

In my former (read: non-vegan) life, I relished Superbowl Sunday if only for the chance to eat buffalo wings, Doritos, and cupcakes frosted in the colors of whatever team I had arbitrarily decided to root for. My first few years of being vegan, I just opted out of the whole event. But last year, I changed my mind. I have always asserted that a plant-based lifestyle is not one of lack or restriction. And if I ever want to convince people to join my team (see what I did there?), I’m going to have to give them Superbowl food.

Buffalo wings have long been a favorite of mine. My mom grew up in upstate New York, so it’s practically in our blood. My college roommate, Claire, and I used to get 10¢ wings and tater tots at the sketchy bar near campus. But how to turn something as literally meat-centric as wings into delicious plant-based food? What I realized is that it’s not really about the wings; it’s about the sauce. After doing a little research, I discovered several recipes for buffalo cauliflower. Cauliflower has a firm texture with a mild flavor that serves as the perfect vehicle for tangy, spicy buffalo sauce. It’s a flavor touchdown! Okay, that was bad...

Buffalo Cauliflower
adapted from PETA

1 cup unsweetened nondairy milk
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into small florets
1 1/2 cups buffalo sauce

Heat the oven to 450°F.  Combine the milk, flour, and salt in a small bowl. Coat the cauliflower florets in the batter, and place in an ovenproof dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cauliflower is tender. Turn once halfway through. Pour the hot sauce over the cauliflower, and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve hot from the oven.

Herbed Garlic Bread

I’ve talked about this Herbed Garlic Bread before, but the last time I prepared it, I made a few slight adjustments that improved it immensely! 

1 loaf Ciabatta bread
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup assorted herbs (basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary), chopped
3 tablespoons non dairy butter

Slice the bread in half, lengthwise. Spread 1/2 of the bread with the non dairy butter. In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, and sauté until tender and fragrant, taking care not to let it burn. Add the fresh herbs and sauté briefly. Spread the herb mixture on the other half of the bread. Turn the oven broiler on high. Sandwich both slices together and wrap in foil. Place in the oven for ten minutes. Unwrap the bread and place both slices facing up. Broil until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Slice and serve immediately.

A Feast Fit for Oscar

It’s almost here, the biggest Sunday of the year! The musical performances, the blood and sweat of competition, fans brawling over the opponents. Yes, that’s right...I’m talking about the Oscars! (Fooled you, didn’t I? You thought I was going to say the Westminster Dog Show, right?)

I know I’m in the minority here, but I don’t really care about the Super Bowl. I used to at least enjoy the food served at this most American of all holidays, but now that I no longer eat Buffalo Wings or Doritos, football has lost all its allure for me. Oscar Sunday has always been more enticing: the over the top gowns, the general merriment, the snarky comments from Joan Rivers and Isaac Mizrahi, and the extemporaneous acceptance speeches. It’s all so much more fun than watching men crush each other; although seeing Colin Firth tackle Jesse Eisenberg for the Best Actor award would be awesome! And just as people carefully plan their Super Bowl menus, crafting dozens of sliders and broiling stuffed potato skins, I pay thoughtful attention to my Oscar menu. Over the years we’ve developed an hors d’oeuvres tradition, preparing canapés and drinking champagne between the major awards. Everything from pot stickers to mini tacos to lettuce cups have found their way to the Oscar table. But, this year I decided to go for a more cohesive theme: bruschetta. A trio of crostinis on tangy walnut bread provides a festive and simple Oscar night dinner.

For all three recipes, slice your favorite bread, brush with olive oil, and broil until the top is golden and crispy.

Tomato and Basil Bruschetta

3 cups tomatoes, dices
1/4 cup basil, chiffonaded
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for later.

White Bean Bruschetta

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 carrot, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped finely
1 small can white beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a small pot. Add the onion and carrot, and sauté until tender, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme, and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the beans and water. Bring the pot to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, or until thick and creamy. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Kale Bruschetta

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 carrot, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 bunch dinosaur kale, de-ribbed and chopped
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a small pot. Add the onion and carrot, and sauté until tender, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the kale and water. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes, until the kale is tender and the liquid is absorbed. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Roasted Chickpeas

It’s Sunday, and Sunday is a day for short posts and simple food. This is a dish I have been meaning to write about for some time. It is not only delicious, but also easy and flexible. Roasted chickpeas are great for a wide variety of occasions as well. I recently recommended them to a friend as a starter for her anniversary dinner; I had some friends over for dinner last night and served them as a snack with drinks; my mom likes to make them for children who don’t like vegetables. I’m also planning to make them as a pre-dinner nibble for Thanksgiving. See, very versatile. They also make a healthy alternative to the currently popular fried chickpea.

The greatest thing about this dish is that the chickpeas are like a blank canvas. You can give them Middle Eastern flavors with cumin and lemon, or Thanksgiving flavors with thyme and rosemary. By incorporating a few of the ingredients in your other dishes, you can make a subtle and delicious appetizer for any meal. They are also a dish with next to no preparation, or required management. Just toss them in the oven and go back to whatever you were doing.  Thus ends my lazy post on lazy food for a lazy Sunday!

1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic unpeeled
1/2 tablespoon cumin
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 425º. Place chickpeas in an oven proof dish. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with cumin. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden and crispy.  Sprinkle with lemon juice and salt, and serve immediately!

Eat Your Greens! Kale Chips

I’ve mentioned in previous posts my attempts to eat more greens. Sometimes this is easy; I can eat spinach, arugula, collard greens, and bok choy by the pound. However, sometimes it takes a bit more effort. Dandelion greens, rainbow chard, and kale can be a little bitter for my tastes, but they are so full of minerals and antioxidants that they are among the very best things you can eat.

Because I am constantly trying to incorporate more greens into my diet, I am always experimenting with flavors and textures. I have had some success blanching the most bitter greens before sautéing them, which softens the flavor a bit. My typical method of preparation is just a quick sauté in olive oil with a bit of salt. I also like to dress them up with raisins or currants and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. But, the technique I have been most pleased with is baked vegetable chips.

Kale chips seem to be everywhere these days, if by everywhere you mean snobby food blogs. I thought I would try my hand at them, and I was thrilled. Baked at a high temperature, the kale become delicate and crispy. They are like nutritious potato chips, and you can’t help but eat them by the handful. Before you know it, you’ve had three servings of greens! So, if you’re skeptical or reluctant about incorporating greens into your diet, make a tray full of these, and see if you feel a little friendlier toward our verdant brethren!

1 bunch kale
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil

Heat oven to 350º. Remove kale leaves from ribs and tear into small pieces. Rinse and dry thoroughly. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and toss to coat. Spread on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes or until kale has shriveled and dried considerably. Sprinkle with salt as desired. Enjoy immediately!

*I haven’t tried it, but I have a hunch this would work impeccably with other greens. I’m also planning to serve these as pre-Thanksgiving dinner nibbles.

Baked Onion Rings

Mmmm...onion rings. As delicious as they are, I have always had a love-hate relationship with onion rings. I love them because they are delicious, vastly superior to a french fry in flavor, and perfect on the side of so many things. However, they are also not very good for you, not vegan, and the onion is always coming out of its crispy shell, leaving you with a limp onion, and fried batter. I’m sure many of you can relate to my onion ring despair. Okay, I may be hyperbolizing a bit, but it is important to me to rehabilitate the onion ring for the vegans, and the health conscious. These would obviously be good on the side of a veggie burger, or soy-sage, but I also think they make a festive appetizer for any occasion. So, don’t wait until your next barbecue. Make them now!

4 cups baked original potato chips, processed into crumbs
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 cup non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 or 2 large yellow onions, in 1/2” to 3/4” slices

Heat oven to 450º. Combine milk and vinegar in a small bowl, and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Combine potato chip crumbs and cayenne pepper in a shallow dish. Combine milk mixture, 2 tablespoons flour, salt, and pepper in another dish. Place onion rings and remaining 1/2 cup flour in a sealable bag and shake to coat. Remove onion rings from bag, and one at a time, dip in the milk mixture, and then the potato chip crumbs and place on a greased sheet pan. When all the onion rings have been coated, spray lightly with vegetable oil, and place in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and crispy. Serve hot from the oven!