In Dinner By Nece 10 January 2022

Cauliflower Fingers

This cauliflower finger food recipe is one of our go-to recipes when my family craves finger food on a Friday night after a dragging week of work and school for the kids. We enjoy this finger food with some sliced celery and carrots on the side. We eat during movie night or eat just before our family Friday movie night.

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower

Batter Mix

• 1 cup potato starch
• 1 cup plain vegan milk
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp avocado oil
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• Ground pepper

Breading Mix

• 3 cup brown or white rice Krispies cereal (coarsely crushed) - or 1 cup Gluten Free Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose baking flour for gluten-free option
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika powder
• 1/8 tsp sea salt (adjust to your liking)
• Ground pepper
• 1 tsp dried parsley

Red Sauce

• 1 cup no pulp orange juice
• 1 tbsp agave syrup
• 1 tbsp gluten-free tamari soy sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp granulated garlic powder
• Hot sauce (optional)

Method

Separate one head of cauliflower into bite-size, rinse and carefully pat with a paper towel to dry. Transfer to a big bowl, sprinkle with salt, mix gently and put it aside.

In a small bowl, make the wet batter by adding 1 cup potato starch, 1 cup plain vegan milk (hemp milk is preferable), 3 tbsp. Rice vinegar, 2 tbsp. Avocado oil,1/4 tsp sea salt and ground pepper. Whisk and put it aside. Put 3 cups of white or brown Rice Krispies cereal to make the dry breading mix. Close the ziplock and pound it gently until the cereal is coarsely crushed. When done, add 1 tbsp of smoked paprika, a pinch of salt, pepper and 1 tsp dried parsley and mix.

Gluten-free Alternative

If you want a gluten-free alternative dry mix and a crunchier option, use 1 cup of Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose baking flour to replace the Rice Krispies with the same proportion of the rest of the ingredients. When I use this option, do the triple dip process of wet-dry-wet coating. Before starting the coating process, start the oven to bake 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare the cookie sheet tray, layer it with parchment paper and brush it with grapeseed oil.

The Coating Process

Transfer the Rice Krispies dry mixture into a bowl. Coat the cauliflower first with the wet mixture, then to the dry Rice Krispies mixture and line it up into the prepared cookie sheet tray. Repeat the process until all the cauliflower is nicely and evenly coated.

For the Gluten-free Alternative

If I use the gluten-free flour dry mixture, I triple coat the cauliflower from the wet mixture to dry and then back to the wet again. Layer it to the prepared cookie sheet tray and repeat the process until done. The triple coat process gives the cauliflower that crunchy satisfaction. Place the cauliflower in the middle of the oven rack and bake for 14 minutes flipping it halfway thru or until golden brown.

While cauliflower is baking, go ahead and prepare the sauce. Put a small pot into the stovetop and put all the sauce ingredients into it. If you want the sauce to be spicy, don’t forget to add about 1 tsp hot sauce or less, depending on how spicy you want your sauce. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring down the temperature to low-medium heat, and while mixing, cook the sauce for 11 minutes or until the texture of the sauce is slightly thicker. Once done, transfer the sauce into a small bowl and cool it down.

To serve, drizzle the sauce to the cauliflower fingers and sprinkle with some white sesame seeds. You can also choose just to have the sauce on the side if you prefer. Serve it with carrots and celery stick on the side for an extra veggie much on a Friday movie night.

Happy eating!