Two foods that I rarely make at home but always order at restaurants are chicken wings and wedge salads. Everything I thought about both dishes changed when I made a Buffalo cauliflower wedge salad.
It jumped out at me in the latest Short Stack cookbook, an ongoing series of highly collectable, miniature cookbooks focused on one ingredient. Kristin Donnelly, former Food & Wine editor and author of Modern Potluck, wrote the new cauliflower-centric Short Stack, creating everything from cauliflower pickles to cauliflower rice steak bowls. But I was alllll about this weeknight salad that tastes exactly like chicken wings and has the irresistible crunch of a wedge.
This is an ideal salad for salad haters. It's a great compromise for wanting to eat a little healthier this year and get more vegetables into your diet, while still wanting to consume a lot of blue cheese.
Here's how to make it:
Preheat the oven to 425° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut one large cauliflower (about 3 pounds) into medium florets and toss in a bowl with 1 Tbsp. cornstarch, 1 Tbsp. melted coconut oil (for high smoke point and a subtle sweetness, but a neutral oil is also okay), 1 tsp. garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Roast for 20 minutes, then stir and roast again until tender—about 10 minutes longer. The cornstarch does wonders for oven-roasted texture, giving it a crispy boost. Do a little taste test for seasoning and texture, toss with ½ cup hot sauce (like Frank's RedHot) in the same bowl, and then roast for about 10 minutes until it's blistered in spots.
While that's cooking, whisk together ¼ cup blue cheese, ¼ cup buttermilk, ¾ cup sour cream, 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar, ½ tsp. garlic powder, and 1 Tbsp. thinly sliced chives. Season with salt and pepper, and use a whisk to mash up larger chunks of blue cheese. It'll be tangy from the vinegar, which helps cut through the richness of all that dairy.
Once the cauliflower is done, top each wedge with a hefty drizzle of dressing, sprinkle on some extra blue cheese, and arrange the Buffalo cauliflower around it. That way you can cut up the wedge, spear a piece of cauliflower, and build the perfect bite. If you close your eyes, it mimics the flavor and texture of boneless chicken wings. Want more of a deep-fried wing crispiness? Fry the cauliflower! But the roasted is healthier and reheats better. This recipe serves four, but could be transformed into lettuce wraps for a vegetarian option at Super Bowl parties to serve more. Any excuse to eat more Buffalo wing-flavored food is a touchdown.
Recipe reprinted with permission from Short Stack Editions Vol. 31: Cauliflower, by Kristin Donnelly.
You could also make Buffalo popcorn as... croutons?