Buffalo Blue Cheese Cauliflower Dip

My Wednesday night yoga group had our 5th (or possibly 6th?) annual white elephant yoga Christmas party last week … we all bring a white elephant gift and some good food to share. And wine, of course. There’s always wine. This year there was turmeric tea, too, for our friends who don’t drink.

First we do yoga. This is often very difficult for us … as we are all anxious for the party … but we do finally settle down and get our yoga in. Sometimes snide comments happen during yoga. Sometimes we end up laughing so hard we can’t stop. It’s all good, though, and we do somehow get through the hour of yoga. This gets us in shape for the eating, you see. And once we are all worn out and relaxed, then suddenly we are refreshed and ready to party.

Then we eat (and drink!) Everyone brings something delicious … this year Kathy (the vegetarian in the group) said she was bringing buffalo dip … I wondered “buffalo what?” because obviously it couldn’t be buffalo chicken. I was really curious to taste it, especially once we started the party and I found out that it’s buffalo cauliflower dip! I adore cauliflower … and love its versatility. I decided I needed to make some of this and take it home for Christmas. I had a vague notion of what was involved from Kathy, so I looked up some other Buffalo Cauliflower recipes and compared, then made my own take on it, including celery and blue cheese right IN the dip … because what’s buffalo dip without celery and blue cheese?

Back to the yoga party … after the food, then we do the white elephant gifts. This is the part that gets really fun and crazy. We do the usual drawing number thing and then the first person chooses a gift and unwraps it, then the 2nd person can either take that gift or unwrap a new one and so it goes, around the circle … sometimes we just keep the gift we chose and sometimes the gifts get stolen. Sometimes the gifts are a little inappropriate and/or very funny. This year there were some really funny gifts and we all laughed so hard we cried. I was last so I came home with a stolen gift: a wine glass, a cool pair of socks and a re-gifted little elephant from last year’s party. Ironic because the last unwrapped gift was even more full of good stuff … but I’m happy with my “take” this year. I have so much stuff already …

Anyway, back to the food! I really love this healthy vegetarian riff on buffalo chicken dip … I know, there’s no meat, but I really don’t think you’ll miss it. And hey, if you really must have chicken, you can add some. Chicken can totally dance with cauliflower in buffalo sauce.

Buffalo Blue Cheese Cauliflower Dip

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 6 - 8 servings 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/2 of a large head of cauliflower
• 1 teaspoon olive or avocado oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled & chopped
• 2 – 4 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
• 2 large stalks of celery, chopped
• 3/4 cup Frank’s Hot Wings buffalo sauce
• 1 8-oz. package Greek cream cheese (or Neufchatel)
• 1/2 cup shredded light mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
• 1/4 cup light ranch dressing (I used my Sriracha ranch dressing – recipe here)

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Instructions

1. Put the cauliflower in large chunks in a food processor and pulse a few times to cut into small chunks.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil then add the onion, garlic, and celery and saute until the onion is soft & translucent. Stir in the cauliflower and the hot sauce and cook for several minutes more, stirring frequently, until the cauliflower is crisp tender. Stir in the cream cheese in chunks and stir and cook for a few minutes longer, until melted.
3. Add in the mozzarella and blue cheese crumbles and stir until melted, then stir in the ranch dressing. Serve warm with chips or celery.

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at Weekend Potluck and Hearth & Soul Bloghop.