Cauliflower Pancakes with Smoked Salmon and Lemon-Dill Cream (Gluten-Free)

I mean, you can’t blame me for incorporating cauliflower into a pancake recipe when cauliflower EVERYTHING is all the rage these days. Here it’s a great way to keep things on the lighter side by using vegetables in a batter rather than all flour. The key though is using riced cauliflower, which you can easily DIY by pulsing florets in a food processor until rice-sized, or grating on a box grater, or simply purchasing pre-riced bags in the produce section of your grocery store if you so choose. 

Smoked salmon is one of my favourite things, so that’s how I top these savoury, chive-laced pancakes, but smoked trout or whitefish are also equally great options. As is often the case with my recipes, use what you like! To give a little shout-out to my gluten-free friends out there, I used a store-bought gluten-free flour blend, but all-purpose flour is perfectly fine if you don’t need to avoid wheat. Make these cauliflower pancakes in full-size format as outlined below, or make smaller pancakes for a cocktail party canape. (Ps. I adore the word “canape”)

Makes approx. 12 pancakes

Ingredients

Lemon-dill Sour Cream

1/4 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped, plus more for garnish
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 lemon, juice freshly squeezed

Cauliflower Pancakes

2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sea salt
6 turns freshly cracked black pepper
2 Tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped, plus more to garnish
4 cups cauliflower rice (from approx. 1/2 head cauliflower)
1/2 cup gluten-free flour (or all-purpose)
olive or canola oil for frying pancakes
200g smoked salmon
lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

Lemon-dill Cream

  1. To a small bowl add all sauce ingredients and stir well to combine. Cover and refrigerate until service, up to 1 day in advance.

 

Cauliflower Pancakes

  1. Preheat oven to 200ºF. Line a baking tray with a wire rack or a layer of paper towels.
  2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together eggs, milk, cayenne, onion powder, salt, pepper, and chives. Stir in cauliflower rice and flour. Let batter sit 5-10 minutes to relax before cooking.
  3. Heat a cast-iron or non-stick pan, or a griddle over medium heat. Once heated add a thin layer of oil to the pan to evenly coat and spoon 1/4 cup batter per pancake, using the back of a spoon to flatten each slightly. Leave space around each for easy flipping. Cook 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer cooked pancakes to prepared baking sheet in preheated oven to hold warm until service.

 

Serving/Assembly

Arrange warm pancakes on a platter and top each with equal amounts of smoked salmon. Drizzle with lemon-dill cream sauce and garnish with dill and chives. Place lemon wedges around pancakes for easy grabbing, and serve immediately.