Valley Bounty: Cauliflower

If you made a Venn diagram with popular anxiety about carbohydrates in one circle and general reluctance to give up our favorite carb-rich foods in the other, cauliflower would need a place of prominence in the overlap. The universe of people creating niche-diet recipes online have taken broccoli’s pale cousin, once a mainstay only of crudité platters, and turned it into one of our foremost culinary chameleons. Some of their concoctions include:

Cauliflower pizza crust — run a head of cauliflower through a food processor, then use a kitchen towel to squeeze the excess moisture out (leaving it in leads to mushy pizza). Combine with eggs, salt, oregano, and grated parmesan, then par-bake on a pizza stone (or baking sheet) before adding toppings.

Cauliflower tortillas — essentially the same recipe as the pizza crust above, but swap out the cheese and oregano for cilantro and lime juice

Cauliflower rice — simply run your cauliflower through a cheese grater, then (as above) use a kitchen towel to squeeze out excess moisture and sauté. The slightly sweet flavor does well with salty seasoning, like soy sauce or garlic salt.

Cauliflower Buffalo wings — simply deep-fry florets and toss in Buffalo sauce. These might be an ideal snack if you’re planning a particularly progressive Super Bowl party this year.

Valley Bounty is written by Brian Snell of CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture)