Roasted cauliflower is so delicious, surely it could be eaten daily. The saucyy and prolific Chef Rossi shares her favorite ways to use this flowering veggie;
Well dumplings, life doesn’t gets any better then roasted cauliflower. I use it as a great side dish with almost everything. When I want to serve it kinda mainstream, I just salt, pepper and olive oil it. If I want it for one of my more exotic events, then I throw in some turmeric and garam masala and roast away. It’s almost as versatile, as, well, as I am! Crunchy but soft, takes on any flavor but has it’s own, healthy and great texture.. surely I am talking about my sex life!!! No dears, its cauliflower! Recently I hosted a dinner and prepared a gorgeous trio of vegan delights.
Snowpea Salad, Hoisin Grilled Tofu & Roasted Cauliflower
Here are the recipes to get you in the mood dears;
Roasted Cauliflower
Just cut a head of cauliflower into florets, toss in virgin olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper and roast at 400 degrees until you see a nice amount of color- maybe 20 minutes.
Snowpea Salad
Start off with a pound of snow peas. Cut off the ends of your snow peas and remove the strings (not nice to eat). Then drop in salted boiling water for a half minute, drain and drop right away into ice water. This is what we chefy types call blanching. It brings out the gorgeous green! Cut your snow peas as you like em; in half, in julienne in thirds or whatever floats your boat. I like to throw in either julienne daikon or carrot. Make a dressing out of a shot of rice wine vinegar, mix in a plop of sugar and a plop of salt and toss your snow peas and whatever veges you like in this. Supper yum!
Grilled Tofu In Hoisin Glaze
Buy a pack of extra firm tofu and weigh down to get the extra water out. I like to put the tofu in a deep baking pan, cover in plastic wrap, put a plate on top and a heavy can on top of that for a night, but hey you can always just sit on it while watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer re-runs! I cut the tofu into triangles like in the photo and then toss in a dressing of a shot of vegetable oil with a dash of soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil. Grill till well marked on both sides (about 3 or 4 minutes per side) and brush with hoisin sauce and you are golden!!
Rossi aka Chef Rossi Rossi- yes she only has one name- has been a writer for many publications, such as “The Daily News,” “Time Out New York” and “Mcsweeney’s” to name a few. She is the writer of the “Eat Me” column for “Bust” magazine and hosts her own hit radio show on WOMR and WFMR in Cape Cod called “Bite This”, now going into its 8th season. She has been featured on “The Food Network” and “NPR” and has just completed her first edible memoir “The Devil and Mrs. Goldstein!” As the owner and executive chef of “The Raging Skillet” a cutting-edge catering company known for breaking any and all rules, she has earned a reputation as the one to call when it’s time to do something different. www.rossirant.com www.theragingskillet.com www.kvetchingandkooking.com