The recipe title is a mouthful, but this meal is every bit as tantalising as you would expect it to be.

Last week, I picked up a bunch of cauliflower at the store so I had been meaning to make something along the lines of roasted cauliflower. The problem was: how would I turn that into a recipe? Would I serve it over rice and style it as General Tso Cauliflower? Or would I whip up an Asian style sweet and sour sauce and wrap them in lettuce leaves to make pretty wraps? There were so many options but none of them really stuck out at me. That was until I came across this recipe by The First Mess. Laura’s blog is super neat, and her website is a staple for anyone who’s already on a plant based diet or is looking to include more vegan recipes in their diet. She also just released her first cookbook and it’s full of the most amazing recipes!

I took a different path to Laura in this recipe by choosing to dip the cauliflower florets in batter and roasting them just to make them that much more crunchy. I also decided to roast the chickpeas because I was looking for something I could snack on during shooting #sorrynotsorry.

If there’s anything I’m going to tell you today it’s to stop everything you’re doing and make this right now. Understood? Good, now let’s get in the kitchen!

Roasted Buffalo Chickpea and Cauliflower Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Ingredients

For the buffalo seasoning:

• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• ½ tsp onion powder

For the potatoes:

• 4 Russet potatoes, washed (leave the skin on)
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp mixed herbs
• ½ tsp garlic powder

For the stuffing:

• 1 small head of cauliflower, about 3 cups chopped cauliflower florets
• ¾ cup flour
• 4 tsp of the buffalo seasoning, separated into 2 tsp + 2 tsp
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup soaked but uncooked chickpeas
• 2 tbsp olive oil

For the buffalo sauce:

• 1 cup hot sauce of your choosing
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup maple syrup (may increase if you want to reduce the heat)
• 2 tsp of the buffalo seasoning
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Optional for serving: nutritional yeast flakes, fresh herbs, ranch dressing

Method

1. Start by preparing the buffalo seasoning. Combine all the ingredients in a ramekin and mix well. Use as directed in the rest of the recipe. You may increase the quantity if you wish and keep any extras to use in other recipes.
2. Add the potatoes to a baking tray. In a ramekin/small bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, mixed herbs and garlic powder for the potatoes. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork and drizzle the oil mixture over the potatoes. Bake in an oven at 180°C/350°F for approximately 1 hour, or until a fork easily pierces the potato.
3. Whilst the potatoes are baking, chop the head of cauliflower into small florets. Line a 9×12 roasting pan with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, 2 tsp of the buffalo seasoning and water until you have a thick batter.
4. Dip the cauliflower florets into the batter before laying them on the baking sheet. If you’re like me and the thought of dipping each cauliflower floret sounds like madness, add the cauliflower florets to the bowl and shake until the florets are covered in batter. Use a fork to transfer the florets from the batter to the roasting pan, letting any excess batter drip off. Roast the cauliflower at 180°C/350°F for 20 minutes.
5. Drizzle the chickpeas with the olive oil and roast in the oven at 180°C/350°F for 20 minutes then remove the chickpeas from the oven and set aside. Meanwhile, prepare the buffalo sauce.
6. Add all the ingredients to a medium saucepan and whisk to combine. Bring the sauce to a boil then turn off the heat but don’t remove from the pot as yet.
7. Once the cauliflower has been roasting for 20 minutes, pour about a cup of the buffalo sauce over the cauliflower and toss until coated. Return the cauliflower to the oven for another 10 minutes or until the sauce has bonded to the cauliflower.
8. Pour the remaining buffalo sauce over the chickpeas and toss to coat.
9. Once the potatoes have finished baking, remove from the oven and let cool until you can handle them with your hands. Slice the potatoes in half longitudinally, and then scoop out the soft middle. You can mash this and eat separately if desired- I just mashed the insides and added them straight back to the potatoes. Add the potato halves back to the baking tray before spooning the buffalo cauliflower into the middle of the potato followed by the chickpeas. Repeat until you’ve used up all the potatoes. Return to the oven for 10 minutes to warm through then serve immediately with nutritional yeast, fresh herbs and ranch dressing. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The First Mess