Sweet Sticky Sesame Cauliflower

A healthy take on a delicious original 

I am going to make this short and sweet, much like this meal! This is the perfect healthy version of the delicious take-out original sesame chicken. This recipe is mostly plant-based... I say 'mostly" because I am using processed ingredients like soy sauce and sriracha for the sauce. You can, of course, adapt the recipe to your dietary needs! If you do, please share your version with me so I can try it too!

Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Serves: 1-2 

As always, my recipes are for all the single people because the recipes I share are the ones I have made myself, and generally, I am cooking solo! I say it serves 1-2 because I generally make enough for dinner and lunch the next day for myself. Yes please, leftovers! So if you are cooking dinner for two people and are only wanting enough for dinner, these measurements should be good. 

Ingredients 

Rice Base: 

• 1 cup of rice (white or brown both work, but jasmine goes best with the "sticky" part of this meal)

Breaded Cauliflower:

•  Half head of cauliflower, cut into pieces. Choose the size that suits you best.
• 1 cup coconut flour (using 1/2 twice)
• 1/4 tapioca flour 
• 1/2 warm water water 
• 1 tsp garlic powder 
• 1 tsp onion powder 
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1/2 tsp pepper  
• 2 Tbsp olive oil 

Sticky Sauce: 

• 4 Tbsp Sesame oil 
• 1/4 Maple syrup
• 1/2 Soy sauce 
• 1 Tbsp Sriracha sauce
• 2 cloves of galic chopped
• 1/2 tbsp ginger chopped
• 1/4 tsp Chili flakes or to taste
• Sesame seeds for garnish 
• Chopped scallions for garnish 
• Coriander for garnish

Instructions  

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (or 180°C.
2. Start cooking 1 cup of rice so that it is done at the same time as the cauliflower. 
3. In one bowl, combine 1/4 tapioca flour, 1/2 cup of the coconut flour, and 1/2 warm water and stir until slightly thick. It will not be really thick because the tapioca somewhat dissolves, but the tapioca will give the cauliflower breading a nice chewy taste.
4. In the second bowl, pour the other 1/2 cup of coconut flour and mix in the garlic powder, onion powder, coriander powder, salt, and pepper. 
5. Prepare a sheet pan and take your pieces of cauliflower, dipping them into the wet flour mixture, then into the dry flour mixture, and then placing them onto the pan. 
6.  Drizzle one tbsp of the olive oil overtop of the breaded cauliflower before putting the cauliflower in the oven for 10 minutes.
7. After 10 minutes, turn the cauliflower over and added the second tbsp of olive oil. Bake for another 10 minutes.
8. While the cauliflower is in the oven, make the sticky sauce. 
9. Put the sesame oil, garlic, and ginger in a small saucepan on medium heat until it simmers. 
10. Add the soy sauce, maple syrup, and sriracha. Sprinkle in some chili flakes if you like it hot.  
11. Keep simmering the sauce until it thickens slightly. 
12. After the cauliflower has baked for 10 minutes on each side, pour all but about a 1/4 of the sauce over the cauliflower. 
13. Mix the cauliflower around in the sauce and then put them back in the oven for 3-5 minutes. 

Take the cauliflower out of the oven, put the rice in a bowl as the base and add the stick cauliflower. Pour the extra stick sauce overtop and garnish with sesame seeds, coriander (if you are a coriander lover!) and chopped scallions. This dish is best served immediately, but I still enjoyed my leftovers the next day!