Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower

First off, I'm admitting that I did not make these. I supervised for about 5 minutes and that's about it. But, nevertheless, they were delicious! As you know by now, we do it big for award shows. We watch about 3 hours of the Red Carpet Fashions, are horribly judgmental about the outfits, then eat yummy appetizers. As per my moms request, we had cocktail meatballs, chicken wings, and vegan buffalo cauliflower. If you're a fan of spicy then you will really enjoy these. They're baked not fried so they're healthy (I guess). I'm not going to bore you with any more anecdotes about how we made them so here is the recipe! Now go make them!

What you'll need:
1 cup non-dairy creamer (or plain almond milk)
1 cup flour
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
1/2 cup buffalo sauce (or hot sauce)

1. Preheat the oven to 450*. In a large bowl, combine the flour, milk, and garlic powder. Coat the cauliflower and shake off excess.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray with non-stick spray) and bake for 20 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and toss with the buffalo sauce. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. Serve immediately.

enjoy :)

Cornmeal Onion Rings

I ran in to a small dilemma on New Year's Eve because one of my guests is gluten free. I had already made an amazingly garlic Caesar salad with croutons but I quickly realized he couldn't eat it because do the croutons. So I wanted to come up with something that wouldn't take too much attention away from my guests but would satisfy them all. Ok. Who DOESN'T like onion rings? That's right, nobody. These corneal fried onion rings are very quick to make and they're not covered in batter and "fry." They have a nice crunchy coating but you also taste the sweetness if the onions. I found the original recipe in one of Barefoot Contessa's cookbooks and tweaked it a tiny bit. They're great for a party or with a nice steak dinner. 

What you'll need: 

2 large sweet onions, cut into 1/2 inch rings

2 cups buttermilk

• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 quart vegetable oil

1. In a LARGE, deep pan, heat the oil for a few minutes until it starts to ripple. 

2. Coat the sliced onions with the butter milk, salt, and pepper. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before cooking. 

3. In a deep plate, mix together the flour and corn meal. Shake off the excess butter milk and dip the onions in the flour mixture.

4Drop into the hot oil and fry for about 2 minutes then flip over. Remove to a baking sheet lines with paper towels to from the excess oil. Serve warm (If you have time between cooking and serving, keep them in a 200* oven to stay warm). 

enjoy :)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of you. My resolutions this year are to 1. Keep up with my new healthy lifestyle (let's not mention the cornmeal onion rings and buttery steak I ate last night... Recipe to follow), and 2. To post lots of healthy recipes from my diet, and more often, this year. 

Relax, enjoy, watch the parade and some football today. You deserve it!!!

Carlye