I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but 2014 seems to be the year of the cauliflower. Don’t believe me? Simply take a detour through the food and drink tab on Pinterest and you’ll quickly see what I am talking about. Cauliflower is EVERYWHERE. Literally, it’s everywhere and in everything. You can find recipes for cauliflower pizza crusts, cauliflower rice, cauliflower bread sticks and even cauliflower breakfast dishes. Virtually anything you can imagine seems to have a cauliflower based substitute.
While not all of these innovative takes on cauliflower may be a good thing, I can assure you that the dish in this post is. Maybe that is a biased opinion, but I have been working on a crispy cauliflower dish for quite some time, and finally have come up with what I think is a home run. When I set out to make my crispy cauliflower dish, I had a few non-negotiables that my recipe needed to have, and the following list features the criteria I based my recipe upon:
- The batter has to be crispy when baked. No soggy cauliflower allowed.
- The batter has to be both gluten and dairy free.
- Cauliflower needs to be soft on the inside, but nowhere near mushy.
- Sauce has to be free of gluten, dairy and unrefined sugars.
Another item on my list of criteria that wasn’t really necessary, but something I really wanted to achieve, was finding a way to bake my cauliflower without using any oil. Doesn’t sound too hard, but when you take into consideration that the number one on my list of criteria is maintaining a crispy exterior, the lack of oil can make that somewhat difficult to achieve. Not to say that its impossible, because obviously its not, but it took a little bit of experimentation on my end to get it just right.
The final solution involved a baking sheet, a Silpat non-stick mat (very important!) and creating a recipe for a gluten free tempura batter.
My gluten free tempura batter recipe contains only five ingredients, and each of those ingredients are crucial in making the batter crisp. Because of this, it is important not to leave anything out or change any of the ingredients.
Recipe: Gluten Free Tempura Batter
Summary: A crisp, gluten free tempura batter that even works for baked recipes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup + an additional 3/4 cup for dredging short grain brown rice flour; must be the short grain variety
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp. finely ground sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 2/3 cup club soda or sparkling water; chilled
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine short grain brown rice flour and cornstarch.
- Add in finely ground sea salt and baking soda and mix to thoroughly combine.
- Once mixed, pour in your chilled club soda or sparkling water, and with a spoon, stir to thoroughly mix.
- Mix batter until it is smooth and place in the refrigerator to keep chilled until ready to use.
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
My rating
Once you have prepared the gluten free tempura batter, it is then time to start on the cauliflower and the rest of your dish. Be sure to keep your batter chilled in the fridge until you are ready to use.
- 1 recipe for gluten free tempura batter (listed above)
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into small florets
- 1 organic orange pepper, diced
- 1 organic red pepper, diced
- 1 organic yellow pepper, diced
- 1 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger
- 2 tsp. garlic, minced
- 4 scallion, cut into thin slices
- 1/4 cup raw cashew halves
- 1 tsp. pepper flakes
- ***Sauce:***
- 2 Tbsp. organic, no sugar added tomato paste
- 3 tsp. Stevia in the Raw baking sugar
- 2 Tbsp. Bragg’s Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
- 4 Tbsp. liquid aminos or coconut aminos
- 3 Tbsp. vegetable broth or No-Chicken broth
- 1 tsp. pure sesame oil
- Preheat your oven to 400F.
- In a large pot, bring water and some sea salt to a boil.
- Carefully add in your prepared cauliflower and cook on high for 5-7 minutes to soften.
- When finished, pour cauliflower into a strainer to drain, then immediately rinse with ice cold water to stop them from cooking any further. Shake to remove excess water.
- Dump your additional 3/4 cup of brown rice flour into a gallon size Ziplock bag and add in your cooled cauliflower. Seal the bag and gently shake to thoroughly coat the pieces.
- Remove cauliflower pieces one at a time, placing each piece into the batter to thoroughly coat.
- Gently shake to remove excess and place each piece onto a Silpat lined baking sheet. If you do not have a Silpat non-stick mat, you will need to lightly coat your baking sheet with a non-stick cooking spray. Be careful not to overcrowd your cauliflower.
- Bake cauliflower for 10 minutes, then flip cauliflower over and bake for an additional ten minutes. Cauliflower will have formed a crunchy, lightly golden exterior.
- When finished, remove from oven and place cauliflower on a separate plate to cool.
- In a large skillet, spray a generous coat of non-stick spray and heat your pan on high.
- Add in diced peppers and onion and cook until soft.
- Add in grated ginger, crushed red pepper flakes, cashew halves and garlic and turn heat to low.
- In a small dish combine all ingredients for the sauce and whisk thoroughly to mix.
- Add your sauce into your pan and bring to a slight boil stirring constantly. Once a gentle boil is reached, remove pan from heat and add in your cauliflower.
- Stir to combine and top with thinly sliced green onions.
- Serve immediately for best results.