I've made some great friends since moving to LA.
A big part of leaving Boston was knowing I wouldn't see my people on a regular basis. There was a six month or so stint there, living in Dorchester, when my BFF Courtney would just drop by on her way home from law school every night. She'd have been in traffic for hours, and just needed to get out of her car (or sometimes use my bathroom. Especially when she was pregnant.) and would stay for an hour, just shooting the shit with me while I made dinner.

While no one will ever replace my Boston friends, my social circle in Southern California has added some pretty awesome people in the past year, and it makes living here all the more enjoyable. One such friend is Oscar, a former client turned buddy who recently started working for the awesome Vegan product brand Follow Your Heart. He came by one afternoon, armed with some product samples, and we tested drove some delicious veggie-heavy recipes. Even for the most carnivorous of us (my fiancé Fazekas, obviously) we agreed the snacks were as delicious as they were satisfying.



One thing I simply had to try after seeing that FYH has bleu cheese dressing, was whip up buffalo cauliflower. I used vegan butter to make the buffalo sauce, so this would be a great menu addition at a party that everyone can try. Being engaged to someone who is allergic to wheat always makes me so much more cognizant of what we serve, so I'm happy to add some vegan delights to my repertoire.

Check out Follow Your Heart to track down their products in your area. The tangy bleu cheese dressing really was the absolute perfect counterpart to the very spicy, very tasty cauliflower.

Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower
Serves 4 as a snack/app Takes ~25 minutes

What it's Made of:

• 4 tablespoons vegan butter, such as earth balance
• 1 teaspoon agave nectar or sweetener of choice
• 1/2 cup hot sauce of your choice (I used Tapatio) 
• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• Follow Your Heart Vegan Bleu Cheese salad dressing, for serving

How it's Made:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. In a small skillet over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in the agave and hot sauce and simmer for about five minutes until combined. Taste and adjust, you can add a little more butter to tame the heat.
3. Place cauliflower in an ovenproof skillet and drizzle the buffalo sauce over it. Stir to coat, then place in the oven and roast, tossing occasionally, for twenty minutes, until the cauliflower is tender.
4. Serve with the bleu cheese for dipping, and enjoy.

My friends at Follow Your Heart provided the ingredients for these recipes. All opinions on spicy deliciousness are my own.