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Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Salad

This baked buffalo cauliflower melts in your mouth in the best way possible. This salad is mostly just a cooling vehicle to shovel cauliflower into my mouth, so I like to keep it cool and simple. Tossing romaine or iceberg in ranch with avocado before throwing the buffalo cauliflower on top provides the perfect trifecta: cool, crisp, and spicy.
Course Main Course, Salad
Cuisine American, Vegan
Keyword buffalo cauliflower, chickpea salad, healthy, ranch, vegan
Servings 4 salads

Ingredients

  • 1 head of cauliflower
  • 1 c flour
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 c club soda
  • 3/4 c hot sauce Frank’s Red Hot
  • 3 Tbs vegan butter, melted Earth Balance
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp agave
  • sprinkle of salt
  • 1 head of iceberg or romaine lettuce, chopped
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 3 green onions, white and green parts diced
  • 1/4 c ranch dressing Follow Your Heart is my store bought fav, or use my Herby Ranch dressing on this site

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 415 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or spray with oil.
  • Cut the head of cauliflower into bite sized pieces.
  • Make the buffalo sauce. Mix together hot sauce, melted better, smoked paprika, agave, and salt. Whisk until combined, then set aside.
  • Make the batter. Mix flour, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, and salt in a medium sized bowl.
  • Add club soda to the flour mixture, whisking until it reaches a thin, pancake-like consistency. If it looks too thin, add a little flour, if it looks too thick, add a little more club soda.
  • Dredge cauliflower in the batter, being careful not to over coat it. Let the extra batter drip off. Place the pieces on the baking sheet, one inch apart. (Depending on the size, you may need two baking sheets!)
  • Bake the cauliflower for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven.
  • Use a marinade brush to coat wings in buffalo sauce. If you don’t have a marinade brush, dip wings into buffalo sauce and place bake on the baking sheet. Don’t over sauce them.
  • Put the cauliflower wings back in the oven and bake for another 10-12 minutes, until the sauce looks nice and bubbly around the edges.
  • Remove wings from oven. Add extra buffalo sauce if desired.
  • To serve, toss lettuce in ranch and divide into bowls. Recipe will make about 4 salads, depending on size. Add cauliflower wings, avocado, and top with green onion. Enjoy!