My honest reaction to the mystery ingredients was, “I can do this!” I love to make cauliflower puree, and that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the mystery ingredients in Challenge No. 7. I prepared Cauliflower Crusted Tilapia with Scallion Aioli, Turmeric Cauliflower Puree and Red Quinoa. My first try was to make my puree after roasting the cauliflower. However, I didn’t let it roast long enough, and the puree was grainy. So, I went back to my tried and true method of steaming the cauliflower first. I probably could have gotten what I wanted by roasting the cauliflower longer, but I tend to keep most of my dishes under an hour in total prep and cooking time. I don’t want to come home after work and spend more than that in the kitchen.

I was afraid that I might not get many points for creativity if I did a pan-seared tilapia. I thought it might be interesting to see if I could use the cauliflower as “bread crumbs.” That turned out awesome, and I was surprised at how well the cauliflower works as a breading. Cauliflower would be a great gluten-free breading. I wanted to use the scallions other than as just a garnish, so I used the green parts of the scallions to bring crispness to the quinoa, and I made scallion aioli for a sauce. As usual, my husband was my best tester helping me to decide between the toasted pepitas or toasted sliced almonds in the quinoa.

I was surprised about conceptualizing the dish so quickly. My concern about entering a competition was that it would take me too long to come up with a dish but this was very encouraging. It was fun!!

— Jacky Runice