in other words
february2
2017
An Unusual Culinary Column: Falling in Love with Caulifl ower
By Karen Kain
I am really excited to share this
column with you. Until just a few weeks
ago, I had no idea that I would have such an
affi nity for caulifl ower. Get your scissors
out folks, I have found some recipes that
you will want to cut out.
I grew up with both my mom
and dad working full time; my dad did
most of the cooking. We ate lots of meat
and potatoes served with a plethora
of canned vegetables. Who doesn’t
remember canned asparagus? Needless to
say, as a child I was not a fan of eating
my veggies. On occasion, we would have
boiled caulifl ower. I learned to consume it
smothered in margarine and lots of salt.
Later in life, I discovered that
caulifl ower was much more palatable
swimming in cheese sauce. Over the past
two years I have tried grated caulifl ower
cooked as fried rice, caulifl ower pizza
and one of my favorites is caulifl ower hot
wings. All these recipes were great, but
those white fl orets were still not making it
onto my weekly grocery list.
As of the new year, I have made
efforts to cut gluten from my daily diet.
I have not totally stopped eating breads,
fl our and pasta, but I am consciously look-
ing at my food choices and combinations
as I plan my meals. Many years ago food
combining became popular and eating
meat with carbohydrates was and still is,
thought to be a no no. I don’t eat steak of-
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ten, but when I do, I really like
to have a loaded baked potato
as a side. I have seen recipes
that had different versions of
caulifl ower mash, but for some
reason I had a negative feeling
about it. It wasn’t that I had a
bad caulifl ower mash experi-
ence, but how could anyone
replace a baked potato loaded
with sour cream and butter?
Like most Americans I kept
eating steak and potatoes to-
gether, knowing it was a bad
food combination. Of course I always feel
bloated afterwards but I justifi ed it by only
eating it as a treat. Keeping up with my
healthier regime I decided to try steak dif-
ferently. I simply steamed up a half head
of caulifl ower until it was fork tender then
mashed it with my hand mixer, added a
small amount of butter and some freshly
shredded Parmesan cheese and fell in love.
This baked potato substitute has been a big
shift in how I will be enjoying my meat
and potatoes from now on. I highly sug-
gest that you give it a try. Caulifl ower mash
can be made many different ways, just add
what you would put onto a mashed potato
and enjoy.
Feeling inspired I started looking
into other caulifl ower recipe ideas. I
quickly came across this Artichoke &
Caulifl ower Gratin recipe. I love artichoke
hearts. I have a fabulous artichoke dip
recipe that is hands down the best dish to
bring to a party. The only draw back is that
it is full of mayonnaise and cheese, which
of course, makes it so delicious. I was
happy to try out this healthier combination
which sounded like it would make a pretty
original vegetable casserole. I like to add
7
extra cheese to just about any dish I make,
but you can add as much or as little as you
like. I think you will fi nd this to be a super
easy recipe that puts a twist on the typical
veggie side dish.
I also decided to try a pasta
caulifl ower recipe. You can make this
a gluten free and casein free meal by
eliminating the Parmesan cheese and
using gluten free penne pasta. This hearty
and healthy recipe was easy to make and
is perfect when reheated and eaten as
leftovers. This recipe is really satisfying;
whether you are a vegetarian or a meat
eater you will like this one.
Finally, I discovered a Caulifl ower
Avocado Toast recipe that really sealed the
deal for me. As you already know I am
not a big breakfast person. The fabulous
aromas that fi lled my house as I was frying
up these easy to make caulifl ower patties
was totally worth the effort. This is a great
bread alternative and only made better
when topped with the avocado and a fried
egg. I found that caulifl ower toast was the
perfect hearty snow shoveling meal to start
my day.
I hope that you give one or all
continued on page 12
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