Subtle Seasonings: Cauliflower can be tasty!

I'm starting to fall in love with cauliflower. First I tried a curried cauliflower recipe (I blogged about it here), then a friend asked me to make this recipe and give it a try. So I did. The verdict: totally tasty!! These take a bit more work than I usually like for a side-dish, but they're worth it.

I ran in to a couple problems. First, I don't have a food processor so I thought I could put the almonds in my little coffee/spice grinder.

It was going all fine and well until I started smelling something "hot" and discovered the grinder was overheating. No problem - I brought out my meat tenderizer and used that to break up the nuts. It's always nice to smash things! :)

I also decided to not use parchment paper, and instead had some foil so I used that instead. The cauliflower bites stuck horribly, and I ended up having to pry them off. Not a problem, they were still super tasty!

Cheddar Cauliflower Bites

Ingredients (I doubled all of these amounts and made 2 batches):

1 medium size head of cauliflower, chopped and steamed until tender
1 cup almonds
1/2 bunch (about 4) of green onions, chopped
3 eggs, beaten
6 – 8oz Cheddar cheese, grated
salt
a few turns of ground pepper

Directions:

Take your steamed cauliflower and use either a pastry blender or a chef knife to chop the cauliflower into more uniform pieces. You don’t want big chunks or the patties will fall apart. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.

Use a food processor to pulse the almonds until you have a somewhat coarse meal. I like the texture of the almonds in the patties, you may prefer the tenderness of traditional breadcrumbs. If the latter is the case, you’ll want to pulse the almonds carefully until they are finely ground, but be careful not to go too far or you’ll make almond butter.

Throw everything into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. Now use your hands to shape the mix into small patties. Don’t worry they aren’t going to spread like cookies, they can sit pretty close to each other on the baking sheet. Just leave enough room to turn them with a spatula.