I’m in my final month of grad school.
Our capstone consists of writing a substantial research paper on a narrow, focused aspect of our discipline, like a narrative review. We also have the option to submit a case study, and that includes a shorter narrative review in addition to presenting the case study. I chose the latter, because I have a tendency to take on more work whenever possible, it seems!
Having spent many weeks deep in the literature, my creative juices have totally dried up. I had the opportunity to step away from the paper for a 3 day conference and found that the extra socializing has opened up a side of me long neglected; my Inner Kitchen Witch.

My inner kitchen witch throws random things together and creates some amazing grub. It’s total alchemy and highly intuitive and comes from having a long-standing relationship with food, flavor, and the kitchen stove.

This recipe came to me as I was assessing what veggies needed consuming after being neglected for a long weekend. I love roasting a chicken on top of vegetables; the chicken juices become a flavorful braising liquid for the vegetables to simmer in and the flavor is just a delight and perfect for cooler winter evenings. If you’ve not yet roasted veggies with your chicken I highly recommend it! Cabbage, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and many other firm vegetables work really well here. Tonight a leek, several lemons, a fennel bulb, and some potatoes were called to serve as a cushion for this soy-free, pastured chicken I found at the Farmer’s Market yesterday.

My intention was to use 5 uninterrupted hours to dive back into my paper and tighten up my arguments, research, and ensure the rough draft was ready for submission. However, my kitchen sang a siren song and the urge to put off that bit of drudgery was too compelling to resist. However, staying home studying all day allowed me to use a low, slow bake for this chicken, resulting in a crispy skin and moist interior. Even the wings retained moistness! The meat comes right off the bone easily, and the lemon adds a delightful brightness to the chicken and vegetables. If you have some time in the afternoon, I highly recommend getting a head start on dinner and going for a low, slow bake the next time you roast chicken. This is a great weekend meal that can be roasting away while you tackle laundry, bills, homework, or housecleaning. Leftovers are great for early-week chicken salads, tacos, or pasta.

Ingredients:

1 roasting chicken, 3 – 5 pounds
3 lemons
1 fennel bulb, sliced
6 small red potatoes, chopped in large chunks
1 large leek, sliced into rounds
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp thyme
5 bay leaves
salt, pepper and paprika to taste
oil as needed

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F
Pat chicken dry and remove giblets, if included.
Slice one lemon in half, lengthwise, and stuff it into chicken with 1 bay leaf.
Slice 1-2 lemons thinly and de-seed slices. Slip the lemon slices under the chicken skin on both sides and tuck them under the wings.
Slice fennel bulb, leek, and potatoes. Toss with olive oil, garlic, and remaining bay leaves.

Place vegetables in the bottom of a roasting pan.
Slice remaining lemon and set slices atop the vegetables.
Place chicken on top of the veggies and rub oil onto the skin. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, paprika, and a bit of the fennel fronds.

Bake, uncovered, in a 275 degree oven for 3-4 hours. Aim for 3 hours with a smaller chicken (3 pounds or less), 4 for a larger bird (up to 5 pounds).

Let chicken sit for 10-15 minutes before carving.

Serve with mashed celery root, cauliflower mash or rice.

Oh, cauliflower! Is there anything you can’t do?

My first taste of Gobi Manchurian was a handful of years ago from Indian Food takeout in Portland. I was blown away by the complexity of taste and texture in these little nuggets of fried cauliflower and knew I had to make it myself. Upon exploration, I discovered it was breaded and fried, so I wanted to create a recipe that was more aligned with my eating style. I took to Pinterest, grabbed a couple recipes, and sat on the idea over the next four years but never forgot that dish.

Fast forward to last month, when I found myself overloaded with cauliflower due to a shopping snafu. I had already made Buffalo Cauliflower and Cauliflower rice, so decided this was going to be the moment that I put my procrastination abilities to fine use; I was going to avoid studying by trying to recreate Gobi Manchurian!

Gobi Manchurian is the result of the Chinese influence on Indian food (yeah, I didn’t know that happened either, although it is rumored to be in only one small area of India) and it is definitely the case of two great tastes tasting great together. Traditionally, cauliflower is dipped into a spiced batter and then deep fried, but I opted to bake it instead.

Here’s the recipe I came up with:

Paleo Gobi Manchurian

Cauliflower Nuggets

• 1 cup cassava flour (can sub GF flour blend if not paleo)
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp. powdered ginger
• 1/2 tsp. powdered garlic
• 1.5 cups water*
• 1 tbsp. coconut aminos
• 1 tbsp. oil
• 1 head cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized florets

Sauce:

• 2-3 tbsp. sesame oil (let your taste guide you)
• 1 tbsp. grated ginger
• 1 large clove garlic, crushed
• 1-2 tbsp. hot sauce (I used sriracha)
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp. coconut aminos
• 1 -2 tsp. honey
• 1 jalapeño or thai chile, diced
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 2 scallions
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

*less water may be needed if using an alternate flour

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F/ 200 degrees C.

In a medium mixing bowl, add cassava flour, pepper, garlic and ginger. Mix to combine well. Drizzle coconut aminos and oil over mix, then add water slowly, mixing it in until the consistency is like thick pancake batter. Coat the cauliflower with the batter, and set the cauliflower on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a well-oiled baking sheet.

Roast cauliflower for 20 minutes, turning once to brown on all sides.

While roasting, make sauce.

Mix sesame oil, ginger, garlic, hot sauce, tomato paste, vinegar, honey, and coconut aminos in a blender and blend to combine thoroughly and more finely dice the garlic and ginger. Saute the onion and chili over medium high heat with a dash of oil and about 2-4 tbsp. water to ‘steam saute’ until the onion is translucent. Add the sauce and remove from heat.

When browned, remove cauliflower nuggets from oven and let cool slightly. Toss in the sauce until well coated, and then fold in diced scallions and cilantro.
Serves 4.