Cauliflower “Buffalo Wings”

Anyone who knows me well is aware of my greatest weakness…buffalo wings. About 4 years ago, before I decided to become a vegetarian, the university I attended sold late night buffalo wings to hungry college students. I’ll blame my Freshman 15 on all those evening gnawing on those tiny chicken bones.

After becoming a vegetarian, I quickly realized that the one thing I truly craved for were those tangy spicy buffalo wings! The Superbowl is the time of year where it seems as if I am surrounded by buffalo wings and their aromatic hot sauce. For years I’ve faced the problem of having to resist the temptation to devour a plateful of deep fried buffalo wings.

This year I decided that I would not suffer any longer. Also, my boyfriend revealed that he knew how to make the hot sauce. And so my journey of searching for a healthy vegetarian option began.

I discovered a cauliflower buffalo wing recipe on Pop Sugar and immediately knew that I had to make it. As great as the vegetarian buffalo wings in the frozen sections of grocery stores are, they’re all mostly processed and filled with preservatives, which aren’t necessarily the healthiest for our bodies. With a fresh head of organic cauliflower from my local Trader Joe’s, this was definitely my best bet for some healthy ‘buffalo wings’.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium cauliflower-chopped into florets
• 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp melted butter
• 2/3 cup hot sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees
2. Combine the flour, water, garlic powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Be sure to whisk it until it’s smooth.
3. Toss the cauliflower into the batter and completely coat each piece. Place parchment paper onto a baking sheet and then place the battered cauliflower on top. Bake for 15 minutes.
4. While the cauliflower is baking, pour some hot sauce into a small pot and add the melted butter. Stir regularly to keep it ‘liquidy’.
5. After 15 minutes, remove the cauliflower from the oven and toss it in the hot sauce. Once all pieces are evenly coated, place back onto baking sheet and into the oven. Bake it for another 25 minutes so that it is nice and crispy.

You can wait for it to cool or eat it right off the tray. I devoured these right before the Superbowl Game and didn’t feel too guilty. I mean, I was eating cauliflower.

Cauliflower is low in fat and high in fiber (great for our digestive system). It also contains antioxidants and vitamins such as vitamin K, which helps with inflammation. For those of you who are concerned about this, it’s also low in calories!

The garbanzo bean flour is garbanzo beans ground to flour. It contains more protein than whole-wheat or all purpose flour and is naturally gluten free.

To me, this recipe is a total winner. It sates my desire for buffalo wings, has a higher nutritional value, and tastes delicious.