Cauliflower “Mac” and Cheese

Hello Friends!

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving filled with great friends, great family and plenty of great tasting food.

Although veggies adorned my plate, I always feel compelled to step up the intake after the long holiday weekend. We’re back on track this week picking up a head of cauliflower and creating something different than I have before.  Typically I boil or roast the florets for different recipes but this time two things are different: The cutting technique and the cooking method

I wanted to get the cauliflower into small pieces, as you would have with individual elbow pasta.  So here I “shaved” the cauliflower head by just running my knife down the sides of the head.  Those pieces just break easily into smaller pieces.

Then I steamed these pieces rather than boil them since they were so small.

Making a quick roux with flour, skim milk and light butter along with just a couple ounces of freshly shredded cheese and you have a nice healthy side dish that clocks in at about 250 calories per serving, low fat and of course low carbs.

Recipe: Makes 2 – 1 cup Servings

2 cups of cauliflower, diced small (see instructions)

1 tablespoon of light butter

2 tablespoons of flour

1 cup of skim or plant milk

2 oz of shredded cheese (about 3/4 cup)

2 tablespoons of Panko bread crumbs

Salt, pepper

Cut cauliflower into smaller pieces by using the technique mentioned above until you have about two cups of cauliflower (you should have cauliflower left over for another recipe).  In a frying pan with a tablespoon or two of water, add the cauliflower and cover. Cook on medium heat for about 5-10 minutes until the cauliflower has softened.  Meanwhile in a small saucepan, heat the butter until melted. Add the flour and whisk.  Add a small amount of milk to get the ingredients incorporated. Add remaining milk and cook over medium heat until the milk mixture begins to thicken (5-10 minutes). Whisk frequently.  Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste and all but a 1/4 cup of the cheese.  Whisk until blended. Add cheese sauce to cauliflower and mix well.  Spray two small casserole dishes or ramekins. Divide cauliflower mixture evenly between both dishes.  Top with remaining cheese and bread crumbs.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes until bubbly and brown.