Alternative Carb: Cauliflower

As I make my way through several veggies as carb alternatives, it's making me up my own ante. I'm getting into the kitchen more myself and preparing these healthy foods I'm writing about. If anyone ever appears to have it all together, to not have issues with willpower, cravings, or laziness, I'm going to hazard a guess and say you may not being seeing all their moments (cause I have my fair share!).

I haven't been much motivated to cook this summer. When school was out, I wanted a rest from the speed of light life I lead. I'm just saying, two days off to get household chores done isn't enough to include rest from teaching all week (and tutorials, and homework, and dinner/baths, groceries, bills...). So, when I told my daughter earlier in the summer I wasn't cooking three times a day, they were lucky if I cooked twice, it wasn't to be mean. They're old enough to make PBJs, but I have slowly moved into more food preparation this last week. They don't mind.

With that, I want to discuss Cauliflower as an alternative carb. My first introduction to cauliflower's many uses was through a George Stella cookbook my sister ordered for me last summer, The Complete Low-Carb Cookbook (online PDF, though I love having a book in my hands).  I lost that copy and my parents didn't let me do without, thank heavens.

These recipes are easy. You'd think "oh, heavens, this is daunting territory, I can't make cauliflower look that good let alone taste that good." Oh, with George Stella, anything is possible. Many of the ideas that cameo here today are his concoctions.

Cauliflower as Potato Alternative
Bacon & Cheddar Mock Mashed Potatoes (pg 169) and Mock Mashed Potatoes

First off, my favorite food group of all time has always been mashed potatoes. Thanks to my sister Mary for sneakily giving it to me when I was trying real food as a tot. When I'm sick or depressed, it's still a comfort food and thankfully it's not off the menu because of my thyroid and blood sugar issues. However, I know to limit potatoes because I gain weight that I worked hard to take off. I'm rather stubborn about not back-sliding. I feel better and I'm holding onto that with every tooth (when your health has gut-punched you and won't let you up...you tend to be tenacious about maintaining it).

The two recipes above are George Stella. I link them together because the only difference between the Mock Mashed Potatoes recipe (available online) and the Bacon & Cheddar Mock Mashed Potatoes (in the book/PDF) is that the Bacon & Cheddar version adds 1/4 cup of Cheddar Cheese and 4 strips of cooked bacon (chopped) at the end before baking.

This Ultimate Moc Mac and Cheese Casserole recipe takes 15 minutes to prepare and 4 minutes to cook, placing it in my favorite category: Under 30 Minutes dish.

Old-Fashioned Mock Potato Salad with Egg (pg 55)

George Stella says it best when he describes this dish as "one of my best reinventions of all times." It's still one of the most popular low-carb Food Network recipes. I'm just saying that those Fourth of July BBQ picnic gatherings don't have to include you looking at the layout of food and thinking, "I can't have that. I can't have that....or that...or that." One of my rules for picky eaters in the family, "Then you better bring a dish you like to eat." I follow that rule myself because though I have no intention of being picky, I have picky diet restrictions (I can't help my health issues, but I can help how bad they affect me). Instead of pouting when there isn't anything to eat at a work luncheon (my boss likes to host them and provides the food), if I know about it beforehand, I'll make a dish to bring. At least I know I'll have something I can eat.

This is one of those dishes that can be shared in this manner. The more I introduce my "health" food at work, I am amazed at how many people want to know more. You'd think coworkers would turn up their noses, but instead they're asking for the recipe because, in the end, we all want to be healthy, but we equate healthy food with "boring" and recipes like this are anything but! In the past, I have encountered food saboteurs (thankfully not at my present school), but dishes like these make them raise an eyebrow and reconsider a few things (even if they won't admit it).

Sausage-Cauliflower So-Gouda Casserole

This is my recipe and it's always a hit with the kids and husband. I adapted it from another recipe that used cheddar cheese. I'm sure George Stella was my inspiration for this. It has his style.

1 package of breakfast sausage (sage flavored)
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 bag of shredded Gouda cheese
Cream of Chicken Soup
half and half

1. Crumble and brown the breakfast sausage in a skillet. Meanwhile, boil water to cook the cauliflower.
2. Cut the cauliflower to bite-size pieces and add to boiling water.
3. Cook the cauliflower and then drain water (about 10 minutes).
4. In a casserole dish, add the cooked breakfast sausage, cauliflower, Gouda Cheese, Cream of Chicken Soup, and mix. Add enough half-and half to make mixing easy and cheese creamier (sorry, I eyeball ingredients to get desired consistency). This is the place to add salt and pepper if that's your choosing.
5. Place in oven at 350 degrees until cheese is melted approximately 10-15 minutes.

Cauliflower as Pasta
Original Cauliflower Mac and Cheese Casserole

More than once, I've been quite impressed with Stella's recipe combinations. Cauliflower as a pasta alternative? Ok, I'll try anything once. Before I tried this recipe, I tried the recipe below this one (it has BACON!). If anything is to be said about cauliflower, it the perfect carrier for other flavors. If you are turned off by cauliflower in general eating the vegetable straight, rest assure it's not a "bossy" food. I feel salmon is a bossy food. No matter what you pair with it, the salmon's flavors overpower everything (thus, it stands within reason why I don't like it, I don't care if it is a healthy food, blech!). It's important to have just the right flavors that do not distract from what you are adding to the recipe and cauliflower does just that.

Ultimate Mock Mac and Cheese Casserole (pg 53)

My critics (i.e. three children and husband) love this dish. It makes me dance in my seat in a "I win! I win!" way because I want to please them, but at the same time, these last 18 months of adjusting our eating style to accommodate thyroid, blood-sugar and ADHD issues, it's wonderful to find recipes that the family enjoys. Plus if I want any leftovers for a work lunch the next day, I better set it aside before I serve the meal.

George Stella has added chicken, broccoli, and bacon to a dish that uses cauliflower as the carb. It's heavenly, just heavenly. It takes about 20 minutes to prep and another 20 in the oven (less time than the original recipe, probably because the cauliflower was boiled a bit in this recipe, not entirely cooked in the oven).

Cauliflower in Muffins
Loaded Cauliflower Muffins with Bacon and Cheddar (pg 152)

Recipes that include Bacon in the title automatically get viewed. Am I right? This recipe has 1g carbs per serving.

A Note about Alternative Flours: 
I want to state this recipe includes Almond Flour. When I went to HEB yesterday, I saw Almond Flour packages there in the gluten-free section next to the rice cakes and popcorn. When I posted about coconut flour the other day I learned that HEB quit carrying coconut flour (I suppose I stocked up and since coconut flour recipes need only a small portion because it expands with liquid, I hadn't noticed). My sister inquired and the manager said he'd order more (but no coconut flour when I went yesterday). HEB should have some soon!

This recipe is on my to-do list and the ingredients are all in my cupboards already. Some of you might not include them in your everyday pantry, such as rice milk, milled flax seed, or almond flour (all available at HEB), which is why I warn you. However, I hope they become staples in your life, especially if you become a George Stella fan.

A Note about Alternative Milks
I often have unsweetened rice milk, almond milk, or coconut milk in my home instead of regular milk for one main reason. One of my daughter's ADHD causes outbursts with certain foods. We've stayed away from red food dyes for the longest and from there we eliminated nitrates (we get nitrate-free hotdogs available at HEB or Walmart) and sugar.

Poor child still longs for donuts, but within hours she's having an emotional breakdown and I can't do that to her. Milk has 11g of sugar per serving. Let's say my little girl decides to have cereal and cereal has how much sugar per serving? We're getting into astronomical sugar numbers that any diabetic would fall into a coma just reading. My girl has an emotional upheaval and it's like I'm talking, yelling through water at her never mind she's right in front of me. She can't control the tears. You can give her a solution and she's so beyond upset, she can't process that we can fix the issue. She acts out in horrible ways and she appears to not be able to control herself. She then dissolves into more tears the rest of the day because of her actions. She feels horrible. That tells me that sugar gives her anxiety attacks. It's easy enough to do my best to remove that from her diet. Now, she's old enough to look at the offered hotdogs at a friend's BBQ and request a hamburger patty instead. I know I get after her for eating all my sugar free foods, but what else would I rather her eat? I just wouldn't mind if she saved me a serving, that's all.

If you know a child that deals with these issues, pick up alternative unsweetened milk instead (most have less than 1g of sugar per serving) and pay attention to foods they've eating before an episode. You may find food allergens that no one is aware of.  I've located these milks at HEB, Sprouts, and Walmart.

Cauliflower as Rice
George Stella's Southwestern Cauliflower Rice (pg 166)

George Stella isn't the only author I've read that has used cauliflower to make a rice alternative. Thing is, when you choose to make any kind of cauliflower rice, you're choosing 2g to 3g of carbs versus 45g. George Stella suggests cutting the cauliflower head into four pieces and using a grater to make the "rice" while I have read cookbooks that use a large cutting knife. Dana Carpender's (see below) uses a different method. My point is, it's easier to get going than you'd think.

Dana Carpender's Cauliflower Rice from 1001 Low-Carb Recipes
Again, my mother keeps my library well-stocked (we've always been bibliophiles in this family). Dana Carpender keeps recipes to reasonable number of ingredients. The book itself hosts 11 cauliflower rice adaptations, so I can't imagine how anyone can get bored of cauliflower rice.

The basic cauliflower rice includes half a head of cauliflower put in a food processor. Carpender explains how you can steam it, microwave it, or saute it in butter with a warning to not overcook it. You want the texture of rice, right? That half a head of cauliflower will yield 3 cups, about 3 to 4 servings with each serving yielding 3g carbs.

From there, Ms. Carpender gets very creative with Saffron Rice, Chicken-Almond Rice, Japanese Fried Rice, and Mushroom Risotto (using cauliflower rice). When you eat like this, you don't feel deprived, which is extremely important, and you feel full when you're done with one serving. That is the key to portion-control. Fill yourself up with so much fiber and protein at each meal that you can't stand another bite. If you're willing to make a double-batch of the original recipe (i.e. no spices), you already have another meal's rice that you can alter with different flavorings.

I wish you the best of luck with testing out cauliflower as a carb alternative.