Bite-size florets coated with spices (Pul-biber) & served with a yogurt dip
I love cauliflower, and there was a Mediterranean restaurant around the corner from my Corporate Castle in LA, that did a Fried Cauliflower dish, served with tahini, in a pitta wrap. It was delicious.
I decided to guess at the ingredients, and make it healthier by baking instead of frying, and replacing the tahini with a yogurt dip, to make it my own, and of course, a healthy spoon or two of Pul Biber!
Here’s my recipe for Spicy Cauliflower Florets served with a yogurt dip.
| Ingredients | Spice Coating Ingredients |
|---|---|
|
Depending on you spice-tolerance, you can adjust these spice quantities as desired, or replace them with your favourites. |
Step by Step Instructions:
Heat oven to 375-400
1. Cut the Cauliflower into floret-size pieces. Cut the florets off the stalk with a sharp knife, rather than pulling it apart manually. TIP – small ping-pong ball size:
- Make them too small and they’ll disintegrate in the oven.
- Make them too big and it’ll take ages to bake.
2. Pour spices in a bowl, and add 1/2 of the oil
3. In small batches, toss the cauliflower in your bowl and coat it with the oil and spice mix. Once they’re coated, move them to another bowl. Continue coating the rest of the cauliflower in small batches.Add the remainder of the oil as needed.
4. When all of the cauliflower is coated. Place it on a baking tray, and sprinkle it with the lemon juice.
(I just dip my [clean] fingers in the lemon juice and drip and flip it onto the cauliflower — save a little bit for your yogurt dip.)
If you prefer, you can add the lemon juice to the oil & spice mix — but I prefer the more sporadic lemon taste I get from the flicking, rather than a uniform lemon taste on it all.
5. 
Bake the Cauliflower in oven for 45 minutes to an hour (at 200/220)
- Shake the baking tray up a bit every 15 minutes or so.
- After 45 minutes, check for done-ness, and continue cooking until tender.
6. Serve with a yogurt dip (great to balance out the fiery nature of the cauliflower):
- 8 oz of Turkish or Greek Yogurt
- 1 spring onion, chopped really fine
- 1 clove of garlic
- Little bit of the lemon juice left over from the cauliflower
- Couple of pieces of chopped roasted red pepper (if you have it)
Chop onions and roasted red peppers. Mix all ingredients into the Yogurt. Pour into a small dish, and serve with the cauliflower
Enjoy.
Sounds great , might try it with broccoli too.
BacktoBodrum recently posted..Choice Words
Since we are a household of vegetarians and vegans, we’re always on the outlook for dishes that can be adjusted to fit all of us (of course, this usually means we all eat vegan, lol!). I agree that cauliflower is a great vegetable, and I like this recipe that spices up the otherwise mild taste of it. I’ll just replace the yogurt with soygurt or yogurt made from oats. I think I will use the pita bread as well, and add some fried tofu for the proteins. Yummy!
Katrin recently posted..Hardside vs Softside Luggage – What’s Your Best Choice?
I’ve been on the lookout for more vegetarian meals and this one definitely tempts my tastebuds! We love spice, but Pul-Bieber isn’t something I’ve come across before, so I’ll have to see it out. It sounds so good for you, I feel healthier just reading the recipe! Cheers for sharing!
If you love spice then you’ve probably been struggling for a spicy dish (like us) during your stay in France. We’ve had two curries, and both have bordered on bland, even though we asked for spicy. Obviously the French don’t like spice much!