Smoky Cauliflower Pepper Wraps

How do you all celebrate Valentines Day? Or you don’t? For us it’s usually cooking together interspersed with video games, online shopping, making our favorite cocktails & sometimes snowball fight (courtesy Chicago deep freeze). I call it cheesy capitalism way!

If you are looking to make something fun yet easy to put together then here I have - cauliflower florets and peppers are smothered in a Chile pepper concoction and roasted until super smoky with charred bits. Served on a creamy avocado sauce and finished with Sumac shallots and fresh mint. Once you try it, it’s quite addictive…

Ingredients (for 3-4 wraps depending on the size of the wrap bread)

Smoky Cauliflower

1/2 Medium Cauliflower Head, leaves removed and cut into 2-2.5” florets (roughly 150g)

1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 2” pieces (about 75g)

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 2” pieces (about 80g)

2.5-3tbsp Neutral Oil

1.5 tbsp Harissa Paste

1 tbsp Tomato Paste

1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tsp Curry Powder

1 tsp Smoked Paprika

1 tsp Ground Ancho Chile (substitute with 1/2 tsp ground Chipotle or increase the quantity of smoked paprika and add 1/2 tsp Cayenne)

2 tsp ground Coriander seeds

1/2 tsp Ground Turmeric

1/2 tsp Fine Sea Salt (increase to taste)

Avocado Crema

1 medium Ripe Avocado, pitted & mashed

3 tbsp Vegan Yoghurt (substitute with Plain Greek Yoghurt, I prefer whole milk but you can use low fat or no-fat versions)

5g Fresh Mint Leaves

1 tsp dried Mint (optional)

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

1/4 tsp Fine Sea Salt

Sumac Shallot

1 large Shallot, thinly sliced into rounds

2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Pinch of sugar

1-2 tsp Sumac

Fresh Mint leaves , torn

Directions

💥 Combine cauliflower florets and peppers in a large bowl. Whisk all other smoky cauliflower ingredients into a paste like mixture and transfer into the cast-iron skillet. Massage the vegetables with the mixture really well - make sure everything is well coated. Let it marinate for 30 mins to overnight (if doing for 30 minutes then I recommend directly mixing everything in the cast iron skillet or baking dish)

💥 Pre-heat oven to 450F. Meanwhile, whiz all Avocado crema ingredients in a food processor into a creamy paste. Adjust seasoning. In a small bowl, toss all Sumac Shallot ingredients and let it pickle for 20 mins at least.

💥 Bake the marinated cauliflower-peppers for 15 mins. Then increase the temperature to 485-500F (as high your oven can go). Give it a stir and continue baking for 12 more mins. After 27 mins, everything should be cooked through with charred splotches all over. Smelling smoky!

💥 Now take a tortilla, lavosh, pita or my sandwich wrap bread. Lightly toast the bread, spread some avocado crema, top it with smoky cauliflower-pepper mix, fresh mint and sumac shallot. Fold into a wrap and enjoy!

* If using lavosh or large tortilla - fold and wrap it like a burrito, lightly toast on a skillet. If using, pita then toast it lightly, slice into two to get two pockets. Spread the crema, stuff with cauliflower, peppers & Sumac shallot.

Saffron Roasted Cauliflower and Peppers in Caper Dressing

We all have a handful of recipes that we can whip up our eyes closed - this super easy tray bake falls into that category. Comprising all my go to pantry essentials and including my favorite spice “saffron” - this one is a winner anytime of the year! Make sure to use only Golden Raisins (bear with me even if you don’t like Raisins) in the dressing and by swapping the butter with oil you can adapt it to vegan dietary restriction. Since the saffron is included in the cooking medium, therefore you don’t need a very high quality or imported Persian Saffron - reserve that for no bake desserts!

Ingredients (Serves 4 as a side)

1 head of Medium Cauliflower, leaves intact & cut into quarters. Blanched for 60-90 seconds in boiling salted water

1 large Red Onion, quartered & cut into big chunks

8 mini Sweet Peppers, whole with a slit

4 Garlic Cloves, crushed

1 tsp ground Cumin Seeds

1 tsp ground Cayenne pepper (substitute with mild chile flakes for less heat)

1/4 tsp Fine Sea Salt

1 tsp Brown Sugar

Saffron Butter

4 tbsp Unsalted Butter (to keep it vegan substitute 1:1 with Olive Oil)

1 tsp saffron threads

1 tsp sea salt

Capers Dressing

4 tbsp drained capers, patted dry & finely chopped

12g flat leaf parsley, stem discarded and finely chopped

12g chives, finely chopped

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon zest

45-48g Golden Raisins (if you are dead set on not using raisins then swap with same quantity of Turkish style Dried Apricots)

1.5 tbsp Orange Juice (OJ)

Pinch of salt

Directions

💥 To make the saffron butter - combine saffron threads & salt then crush them into powder. Heat up butter, once shimmering add saffron-salt mix & cook on low flame for 3 mins. Then let it steep for at least 1 hour to overnight

💥 Pre-heat oven to 400F, then combine first 8 ingredients in a large roasting pan (I use a 13”x9” casserole pan). Transfer the saffron butter & mix until everything is well coated. Bake for 40 mins or until cooked and golden

💥 Meanwhile in a small heatproof bowl add raisins and OJ. Microwave on high power for 30 secs, let it sit for 15-20 mins. Roughly chop up the raisins and throw it back into the bowl. Add rest of the dressing ingredients into the bowl and mix everything. Once the vegetables are out of oven, let it cool for 2-3 mins then generously scatter caper dressing into the roasting pan. Give it a toss and serve right away!