There are many legends in the foodie world, and one of them is Buffalo Wings. Born in 1964, this popular bar – food of chicken wings in a greasy, finger- staining, spicy sauce was the brainchild of Teressa Bellissimo of Buffalo, New York. The perfect accompaniment to the third glass of beer (particularly when watching the Sox or the Pats), these wings boast a bright orange coating prepared from butter, hot sauce and red pepper.
Certainly very tasty, but really not the type of food I enjoy cooking or eating every day.
A bright orange head of cauliflower and a recipe e-mail tip from Vitamix inspired a click: how to prepare roasted cauliflower vegetarian sliders with Buffalo hot sauce.
The freshly harvested cauliflower at the markets this time of year is sublime, and a vegetable treat not to be missed. This variety is aptly named “Cheddar”, it looks like cheddar cheese. In removing the bright green leaves and breaking apart the flesh, the aroma was sweet and fresh; the flavor was mild, almost nutty. Cauliflower never tasted this good!
Roasting the florets perfectly only enhanced the flavors, and the bright orange color become more mellow and rosy-toned.
The Vitamix sauce recipe looked traditional, and delicious, but requires a Vitamix-type blender. Instead, I opted for the condiment-on-hand technique; combining spoonfuls of jars of stuff in my pantry to create certain flavor combinations. The recipe for this Buffalo Hot Sauce uses sriracha sauce, another food legend. A dipping sauce that originated in Thailand, it is a popularly used condiment sometimes called rooster sauce.
I never did make sliders with the roasted cauliflower. Instead, we enjoyed them with friends as a tasty hot appetizer, drinking a beer and bemoaning the Red Sox.
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH BUFFALO HOT SAUCE
Ingredients
- ½ freshly harvest cauliflower about 1 pound or 2 cups
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Sea salt and fresh pepper
Buffalo Hot Sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 4 tablespoons sriracha chili sauce more or less to taste
- Chopped fresh cilantro optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Break the cauliflower apart into 1-inch florets.
- Oil a heavy roasting pan and coat the cauliflower pieces with olive oil.
- Roast in the hot oven, shaking the pan every few minutes, until golden brown and just fork tender.
- Season to taste with sea salt and fresh pepper.
Buffalo Hot Sauce
- To prepare the sauce, mix the mayonnaise with the sriracha chili sauce. Start with 1 tablespoon, mix, taste and continue to add until the sauce reaches desired heat.
- Serve sauce in a bowl surrounded by roasted cauliflower. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro if desired.
