Crispy Cauliflower Bites

I hope that all of my fellow Canadians have had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend with friends, family and loads of delicious food.  We spent it at the cottage with a multitude of children, dogs and food.  

Here in Ontario it's a beeeeautiful sunny day and we're in shorts!  Shorts on October 12th? We are truly thankful!!  But I feel for my others who aren't savouring this extended summer weather - yup I'm lookin' at you Ruthie Morgan, my fav Kiwi author who is hunkering down in New Zealand's winter.  But, I'm not gonna lie, I hope this weather continues.

This time of year it's all about food.  Recently there were some HUGE cauliflower heads in the food store and I started to get a hankering.  But I didn't want a cheese covered dish featuring cauliflower - been there, love it but done that a lot.  

I'm also trying to find tasty yet 'better for me' snacking solutions.  Something with some crunch, that's dippable and could possibly pass as a hot appetizer as we cheer on our Toronto Blue Jays!!  Pillar, Donaldson, Prince, Stoman, cutie patootie Ben Revere and the rest of the Jays -- I do so love to watch you kick some baseball butt with such camaraderie and bring a sense of pride to Canada yet again.

This was a pretty easy side dish/appetizer to whip up.  By par cooking the cauliflower you don't end up with crunchy florets instead leave all the crunch for the coating.  You could easily change things up depending on the sauce that you serve with them or up the spice factor in the Panko bread crumbs with your favourite flavours.  Either way this is a great dish to share with family and friends.

1/2 large head of cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
to taste - salt and pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 dashes of cayenne pepper (or your favourite spices - to taste)
Your favourite sauce (Jalapeno Lime Aioli, Buffalo, BBQ)

Preheat oven to 400F.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and set aside.

Precook/steam cauliflower florets until al dente (I microwaved mine with a little water, covered, for 4 minutes).

In a medium bowl, combine flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Mix well.

Place beaten eggs into a bowl. 

In another bowl, combine the Panko crumbs and cayenne pepper.  Mix well.

Dip each floret first into the flour mixture ensuring all sides are coated, then the egg mixture and then the Panko mixture.  Place on the prepared baking sheet.  Complete for the remaining florets.

Bake for 10 minutes then flip each floret and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown.  Serve immediately with Bang Bang-like sauce (I used Culinary Treats 'Jalapeno Lime Aioli) or your favourite sauce. 

Source: The Baking Bookworm