Mixing Bowl

Photos by Tarmo Hannula

SURPRISING FLAVOR These cookies with little green specks are made out of romanesco, a cauliflower-like vegetable.

Veggie Cookies?

Sweet snack features Romanesco

By SARAH RINGLER

This recipe was categorized online under “veggie desserts.” It is from Kate Hackworthy at yummly.com, who has several other similar recipes. I’m featuring it only in the interest of keeping the Pajaronian audience up to date on new trends of which they may not be familiar.

With that introduction, I have to admit these cookies are a little strange. They are sweet like a cookie should be, since they’re made with white flour and white sugar. The oatmeal gives them heft and texture. I liked them although they’re not the kind of cookie I would binge on. They were a very good late afternoon snack.

The “veggie” in the cookie is Romanesco, from the same family, Brassica oleracea, as broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Like others in the family, it has a distinctive smell and taste. The cardamom, lemon juice and rind do a good job of suppressing the flavor although I don’t think you’ll fool kids.

Romanesco is an unusual cauliflower-like vegetable except that it’s chartreuse green and has little spiral knobs that are naturally occurring fractals. Fractals, as defined by mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot in 1975 in one of his simpler definitions, have “a shape made of parts similar to the whole in a way.” The number of spirals is a Fibonacci sequence where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones starting with one and zero. Ask the math student in your home if you have one, for more clarification.

This is not a newly developed vegetable as it was first documented in 16th century Italy. Its name references the city of Rome.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a cookie pan or cover it with parchment.

Wash and dry the Romanesco then finely grate, or whiz it in a SPIRAL KNOBS Romanesco, a vegetable developed in 16th century Italy, models mathematical concepts such as fractals and Fibonacci sequence.

Romanesco, Lemon and Cardamom Cookies

• 3/4 cup raw Romanesco, or cauliflower • 1/2 cup butter softened • 1/2 cup sugar • 1 lemon zest and juice • 1 1/2 cups oats • 1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour • 2 tsp baking powder • 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds ground in a pestle and mortar

food processor until it resembles fine crumbs. Heat it in the microwave, or in a dry pan on the stove, for 2 minutes to dry it out slightly. Allow to cool.

Cream the butter and sugar with an electric beater until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and juice and mix well.

Whisk or sift flour and baking powder.

Stir in the romanesco, oats, flour with baking powder, and ground cardamom. Mix until completely combined.

It appears dry but when pressed into balls, it will hold its shape. Place on the prepared baking tray. Press down with a fork in two directions to press them down.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly on the tray and then cool completely on a wire rack. Makes about 12-15 cookies.