Spicy oven cauliflower "wings"

Buffalo cauliflower "wings"

Welcome to my new favorite appetizer! Hot "wings" made out of veggies? Crispy crust that's not deep fried? Two different sauce options? Yes, please!

There are lots of recipes online for cauliflower wings that I drew inspiration from. But this one is unique because it uses chickpea flour for the batter. Chickpea flour is a really versatile but underappreciated flour. It is packed with protein, gluten free, and it makes an easy 2-ingredient batter--just add water!

Just coat cauliflower florets in the batter and bake until crispy. Toss with either my buffalo sauce or my Korean sweet and spicy sauce, and you have a healthy app that serves ~4, or, if you're like my husband and me, house the whole batch as a two-person meal.

Oven fried cauliflower
2/3 cup chickpea flour
1/4 t salt
1/2 t garlic powder (optional) 
1/3 cup water
1 lb fresh or frozen cauliflower florets

Preheat oven to 425. Stir dry ingredients together, then stir in water. Add cauliflower florets and stir. Sometimes cauliflower has a lot of moisture which releases into the batter as you stir. You are going for a thick pancake batter texture here. Depending on how much moisture is in your cauliflower, you may need to add water.

Once your cauliflower are completely but lightly coated in the batter, shake off any excess and place on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray. Cook for about 25-30 minutes, until cauliflower is tender on the inside and golden brown on the outside.

Remove from oven and toss with your sauce of choice, below. Optionally, if they seem to be getting soggy, or if you need to keep them warm before serving, return then to the (turned off) oven for ~5 minutes.

Buffalo cauliflower wings

Buffalo sauce

3 T Frank's Red Hot sauce (this makes a medium-to-spicy dish. Use more or less depending on your tastes.)
1 T oil or melted butter
1/2 t garlic powder
2 t Worcestershire sauce

Stir together all ingredients in a bowl and toss your oven fried cauliflower in. Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Korean sweet and spicy sauce
1 T sesame oil
1 T gochujang Korean pepper paste (1 T makes a medium-spicy dish. Use more or less depending on your taste.)
1 T plus 1 t honey
1 T white vinegar
2 t low sodium soy sauce
2 t ketchup (optional, but recommended. It doesn't make the dish taste like ketchup, but it thickens the sauce and adds umami)

Stir together all ingredients in a bowl and toss your oven fried cauliflower in. Garnish, optionally, with green onions and/or sesame seeds. Serve with cilantro yogurt saucevegan cilantro sauce, and rice if desired. 

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