People are crazy about wings. Really crazy. At times, I felt left out somehow, as if I were missing out on something that I should implicitly understand. What was it about wings that caused people to go into fits of ecstasy? I mean, I loved buffalo sauce as much as the next guy, but what was all the fuss about?

It was only after I started making them myself that I understood: wings are the shortcut to the tastiest part of the bird. There are no choices to be made–shall I eat the thigh, or the breast? Dark meat or white meat? Skin or skinless? No, wings make those questions irrelevant; all choices lead to glorious, juicy dark meat with sinfully delicious skin. Whether fried or barbequed, roasted or baked, wings are very hard to screw up and almost always succulent.

I’m usually in the habit of double-frying my wings–the not-so-secret secret to the crispiness of Korean or Japanese wings. But since I’ve been trying to encourage healthier eating habits for the two of us recently, I’ve found that baking wings–with the right marinade, of course–can still produce something that satisfies without being terribly unhealthy.

I love this recipe because it requires no dishes–just measuring cups, spoons, and a resealable bag! Easy clean-up and a great way to plan meals a day in advance. I do advocate marinating the meat overnight–or throwing the wings into the marinade in the morning and baking them for dinner. If you can’t plan ahead, make sure to allocate at least three hours for the chicken to marinate and be generous with the amount of marinade you baste onto the wings right before baking. I know that ½ cup of sriracha sounds like a fire waiting to happen, but you’ll find that the honey mellows the fire considerably–leaving a nice, soft heat that compliments the garlic well.

I should warn you, however–the smell these wings produce while baking is utterly intoxicating. The bake time will seem agonizing toward the end! Enjoy!

The basic preparation for cauliflower usually includes steaming or boiling, but trust me when I say that there is no more satisfying way of eating cauliflower than roasted cauliflower. The cauliflower head takes on a golden-brown color as the aroma fills your kitchen; by the time you take the cauliflower out of the oven, your mouth will be watering for those crunchy florets. Most of the time, I’m satisfied with the standard flavors included in roasting vegetables–salt, cracked pepper and olive oil. But in this particular case… you can’t go wrong with buffalo sauce, right?

I found this recipe last week and my curiosity was piqued; so much so that I went out and bought cauliflower that same day for a trial run. And after making it three times in less than a week (!!), I’m not only sure I’ve improved on the recipe… I know for a fact that we’ll be coming back to this recipe time and time again. James and I are not vegetarians–far from it, really–but the ease of preparation compared to actual chicken wings can’t be denied. I love wings, but sometimes I love being lazy just a little bit more.

The key to this recipe is in the preparation of the cauliflower. Roasting the entire cauliflower head instead of cutting it into florets first allows the individual stems to stay crunchy while still imparting that charred, roasted flavor. Pan-frying the cut florets in a little bit of olive oil crisps the edges and changes up the consistency of each bite. Throwing sauce onto vegetables is easy, but making sure the vegetables taste outstanding before the sauce comes into the picture is the key to making a truly successful vegetable dish.

If you prefer your buffalo sauce mild instead of medium regarding heat, reduce the sriracha amount. I’d say that this mixture creates a medium heat. And if all else fails–bleu cheese or ranch dressing will go a long way in taming the spiciness levels. We either eat this as an appetizer or as a main dish with other vegetable sides. And something tells me that this will come in handy for Fridays during this Lenten season…

Recipe adapted from Leite’s Culinaria.