In the quest to eat healthier I’ve been looking at ways to add more vegetables and reduce the breads and carbs my family eats. I’ve been fascinated with all of the talk about cauliflower and how people are using it instead of potatoes or crusts. For years I have heard of having mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. I have even had it a few times. I thought it was pretty good but I never really thought about branching out and finding more recipes. I recently decided to do just that and I so far I have found a few winners. My whole family, even the picky eaters, loved these recipes!

Loaded Cauliflower

Ingredients:
1 large head of Cauliflower cut into bite size pieces (approx 6 cups)
6-8 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled (Cooked in oven at 400° for 20 mins)
6 Tbs chopped Chives
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2 cups Colby Jack Cheese ( may use cheddar)
8 oz container sliced mushrooms
Directions:
– Preheat oven to 425°
– In a large pot boil water and cook Cauliflower for 8 – 10 minutes, drain and let cool.
– In a large bowl combine sour cream, mayo, 1/2 of crumbled bacon, 3tbs chives, 1 cups of cheese, mushrooms and cauliflower and mix well.
– Place in baking dish and cover with remaining 1 cup of cheese and rest of bacon crumbles.
– Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted. Top with remaining 3Tbs chives and serve.

Cauliflower Pizza

Ingredients:

1/2 Head of cauliflower (mine was a smallish head)
2 C shredded cheese divided (I used mozzarella, but any medium/hard cheese will work)
Italian seasonings (I used oregano, parsley, fresh garlic and some onion)
Pizza sauce or marinara sauce of your choosing
Toppings (we used sausage, black olives and pineapple)

Directions:

– Grate your cauliflower. I used a food processor with the grater blade (cause you don’t want it to become pureed, just shredded). Place the grated cauliflower into a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 6-8 minutes (depending on your microwave). You want to make sure the cauliflower is soft but not mushy. Do NOT add water or anything to the cauliflower.
– While the cauliflower cools off (I put mine in the freezer to cool it quickly), preheat the oven to 450* and prepare a cookie sheet or pizza pan by spraying it with cooking spray. This is also a good time to prepare your toppings.
– To the cauliflower add 1 C shredded cheese and spices and combine. Add egg and mix well with your hands. Press the crust onto a pan and shape into a 9-12″ pizza (depending on how thin you want the crust). I did mine closer to a 12″ and it worked great! Spray the top of the crust with cooking spray (to help brown) or brush with oil.
– Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes (or until golden brown). It is really important to get it nice and brown so that it has a crispness to the crust otherwise, the texture isn’t a convincing pizza crust! When you pull out the pizza, turn your oven to broil.
– Add your toppings (we did 1/2 sausage and 1/2 pineapple/black olive) including 1 C cheese and put pizza under the broiler for 3-5 minutes. Just broil it long enough to melt the cheese and caramelize the toppings a bit.

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large head cauliflower, separated into florets
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
– Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Grease a large casserole dish.
– Place the olive oil and garlic in a large Ziploc bag. Add cauliflower, shake to mix. Pour into the prepared casserole dish, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
– Bake for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through. Top with Parmesan cheese and parsley, and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown.

Have a good cauliflower recipe? Let me know! I’m looking for more good ones!