Fried Cauliflower
Making Vegetables less healthy makes them taste better
Time: 53 Minutes
Ingredient Availability: 5/5
Difficulty: 2/5
I’ve made a couple fried Brussels sprouts recipes on this blog and they both turned out very good. The only other cauliflower recipe I’ve made was also very good, but it was baked. So, I think it make sense to try another cauliflower recipe, but fried this time thanks to a recipe from Texture Over Taste. It seems pretty simple, but some times simpler is better.
Key Ingredients & Omissions:
The cauliflower I bough, unfortunately developed a few moldy spots on it, so I had a reduced yield, as I cut those parts off. I used jalapeño instead of Serrano pepper because the grocery store I went to was out of that type of pepper. Other than that, I used everything the recipe called for and think you should be able to find everything pretty easily.
Tools:
Frying Vessel
Knife
Cooking Review:
Relish: 32 minutes
Since the olives I had included the pit, I had to take the time to remove the pits before I chopped them along with the dates and jalapeño. After that, I also chopped the parsley and thyme before squeezing some lemons. I mixed all of the chopped ingredients along with the lemon juice, cumin, olive oil, and salt. I set it aside while I worked on the rest.
Prep Cauliflower: 8 minutes
As mentioned earlier, I had to cut off some moldy parts of my cauliflower, so it took me a little longer than it would have otherwise to chop the cauliflower into florets.
Fry Cauliflower: 11 minutes
I fried the cauliflower in two batches. Each batch took about 4 minutes, and I waited for the oil to come back to temperature in between batches. Once the cauliflower was fried, I tossed it in lemon juice and salt before serving topped with the relish.
Analysis:
The relish really was the star of the show. It was very flavorful, with some sweetness, acidity, and heat. The olives and cumin add a nice savoriness to the relish, too. The cauliflower itself was fine. It doesn’t get very crispy and the flavors are pretty basic cauliflower when eaten on its own. For some reason, this is in the creamy section of Texture Over Taste. I definitely wouldn’t describe the texture of the cauliflower as creamy. It’s soft with a slight bite to it, but not creamy. Despite those few things, I liked the recipe. It’s pretty simple and is really just a vehicle for the relish. Luckily, the relish is very good. I’m going to give this recipe a 7/10. If there was something easy we could do to elevate the cauliflower on its own, I think this could be even better.
