Lucy Tweeds first book, Every Night of the Week, came out soon after I had a baby and the first thing I cooked after coming out of the newborn haze was Drunken Dumplings. And its one of my favourite recipes still and one of my favourite cookbooks. Everything I've cooked from it is so full of flavour, simple to put together and just delicious so when I was sent her new book, Every Night of the Week Veg. It made me very happy. The cover recipe is mouth watering... pizza rice. I mean omg get in my belly.
With the weekly grocery shop challenges up here in FNQ with barges getting turned around because of wrong temps it does limit the meal planning but turns out cauliflower and rice are not the first things to go in the shops up here. Ha! Until they read this that is. Lucy Tweed is the queen of baked, flavour packed rice and this Honey Soy Cauli is such an easy recipe to get ready and in the oven and dinner is on its way while you wrangle everything else that needs to be done before the madness witching hour.
You can prep the sauce and coat the cauliflower, played monster trucks, then pre-heat your oven, distract a toddler so they don't snack before dinner, prep the rice and put it all in the oven and still have time to go back to making duplo garages for the monster trucks.
Honey Soy Cauli
Recipe from Every Night of the Week Veg by Lucy Tweed
Serves 4
1/4 cup (70g) white miso paste
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup (60ml) honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped, white and greens seperated
8cm piece of ginger, peeled and julienned
1 large cauliflower, cut into 8 wedges**
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups (440g) white rice
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Optional Ingredients
blanched greens and chilli crisp
The sticky, chewy business of baking rice with flavours is with us to stay, my friends.
It's a classic lazy approach disguised as a big flavour move. (It's actually both!) And so satisfying, because it's basically set and forget.
Cauliflowers are the greatest sauce-trappers, too.
Preheat the oven to 200C (400C) fan-forced.
Blend the miso, garlic, honey, soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil, spring oil (white parts only) and a quarter of the ginger in a food processor until smooth.
Toss the cauliflower through the mix, making sure to coat it really well.
In a large roasting tray big enough to fir the cauliflower in a single layer, combine the oilive oil, rice, remaining ginger, chinese five-spice and salt.
Cover with 3 cups (750ml) of water and gently shake the pan to level out the rice.
Place the cauliflower into the water, then cover tightly with foil.
Bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake for a further 25 minutes, basting with any remaining marinade for the final 5v minutes.
Serve with sesame seeds and the green parts of the spring onions.
** Cauliflower can take a while to roast. If you're short on time, blanch (4 minutes), steam (10 minutes) or microwave (4 minutes) the pieces prior to tossing them in the sauce.