This Bloody Cauliflower Brain Is the Centerpiece of Your Halloween
Through no fault of their own, humble cauliflower looks a lot like a brain (or at least the most cerebral of all vegetables). Its bumpy, lobed appearance and round shape screams “I came from a skull,” but its pale beige hue usually prevents things from feeling overly intuitive.
The actual color of the human brain varies depending on whether the person it belongs to is alive and how much oxygen it receives: they can be pink, red, yellow, gray, and even black, but cartoon pink is most effective for doing things that aren’t are brains like brains. (Gray comes second, but I didn’t want to make gray cauliflower.)
Turning a cauliflower head into a bloody brain is pretty easy. Like all of my favorite whole, sautéed cauliflowers, this one starts with a simple 10% pickle , only this pickle is beetroot-colored.
Adding beets to the brine makes it pink, which in turn makes the cauliflower pink (and delicious). Pan-fry the pickled cauliflower with a couple more beets – for those cute little “blood” spots – and you’ve got a creepy-looking vegan edible centerpiece, by the way.
How to make a bloody brain from beets
Ingredients:
- 1/2 liter of water
- 100 g kosher salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 beet, thinly sliced
- 500 grams of ice
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 beets, cut into 1-inch pieces
Add water, salt, sugar and beets to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt, then remove from heat and add ice, stirring occasionally, to melt. Place the cauliflower in a bowl or other container and cover with brine – beets and everything else – cauliflower, then put it all in the refrigerator overnight.
Remove the cauliflower from the brine and let it run down on paper towels for at least five minutes. Turn over and drain for another five minutes. (Mattie Matheson lets his pickled cauliflower air dry on a wire rack for a few hours, which you can do too, but I’ve never done that.)
Preheat oven to 375 ℉. Drizzle the bottom of the cauliflower with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then place in a roasting pan and surround with beets. Use a saucepan large enough to hold the vegetables so that the beets are in contact with the sides of the cauliflower.
Pour the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil over the cauliflower and beets and rub the top of the cauliflower with it to make sure it’s covered. Cook for 1 to 2 hours, until cauliflower can be easily pierced with a thin, sharp knife (depending on size). Cover with foil if it starts to brown too quickly – I usually have to do this after about half an hour.
Remove the cauliflower brains from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. If it doesn’t look bloody enough, you can blot it with roasted beets to give it a few more spots. You can also use a thick hot sauce (such as sriracha) to create a longitudinal crack if you so desire. Cut into wedges and serve, preferably with roasted beetroot sauce .