Well, not really, actually it's cauliflower and cheese.
Ah, cauliflower, the wonder of vegetables for all of those trying to eat a low carb lifestyle. In most dishes, depending on how you cut it, cauliflower can replace pasta, especially those with smaller shapes like macaroni.
Tonight, I cut up my cauliflower in to large macaroni sized pieces, and put them in a baking dish.
Then I heated up 3/4 cup of heavy cream with 3/4 of a cup of water, lots of Mexican blend cheese, some mozzarella, a hand full of cheddar, some cream cheese, some sour cream, and for extra flavor, some cambozola. Let it all blend together in a pan over medium heat till nice and creamy. Next add salt and pepper to your taste, a few hits of cayenne, some fresh nutmeg (you do use only fresh nutmeg right? It makes all the difference in the world, and for those of you in the southwest, it's usually dirt cheap at your local Mexican market).
Now if you want to get creative, here's where you would add anything else you like. Sometimes I add a bit of mustard, sometimes broccoli, a bit of leftover chicken, a can of drained tuna, bacon, ham, shrimp, the possibilities are endless. The only caveat (for those of you trying to stay low carb) is to make sure your additions fit within your eating guidelines.
I find the main thing that makes a mac and cheese (or a cauliflower and cheese ) really special is the combination of cheeses. One really won't do, you want to add a couple.
And if I was till in New Mexico, I'd certainly add a big heap of green chile.
Now, just like you would a regular mac and cheese, you pour the into the cauliflower, top with cheese and then bake till bubbly.
I never cook my cauliflower first, I like it with the cheese baked in.
Give this one a try, I think you'll really like it.
9 comments:
That sounds really good even though I'm not on a low carb diet. I add green chilies to almost everything. Well not my breakfast cereal. ;)
That sure looks yummy, Kate. Hope Terry's feeling better. He should be with all the comfort food you're making. We just saw the movie Hugo tonight at home. It was fun, thanks for telling us about it. Love you guys. Take care.
Oh that looks so good, we will be trying that real soon
Thanks for posting that Kate and for all the variations too. I copied and pasted in my recipe file. When I pasted it the photo of that beautiful hot and bubbly popped up and filled my screen. Convinced me I really need to do this. Good thing I just finished my Fibre Plus cereal or this would be in the oven now!
Thanks again - Love new cooking ideas.
Sharon
Sounds yummy. Thanks. I am eating gluten free and this will be great to make.
I agree that the replacement of the macaroni with cauliflower sounds good, but doest that just make it cheesy cauliflower?
For me there is far to much fat in all of that cheese and cream. I'm cutting back on fat and all dairy. I've lost over ten pounds this month!
Merikay
Yep, it makes it cheesy cauliflower, but for those of us who are trying to stay away from wheat, I believe it's a nice substitute for mac and cheese.
As to the cheese/fat content, this is exactly what I meant when I mentioned that a lot of people aren't in favor of low carb, and I admit it isn't for everyone.
While I appreciate those who eat low fat, it doesn't fit in with our Doctor's plan of us eating low carb. For us, the tremendous amount of sugar in all low fat foods is a major no no.
As for the amount of cheese, we don't eat this every day, nor do we eat huge amounts.
Kate
Sounds yummy ... we'll have to try this. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Jim thinks he doesn't like cooked cauliflower but I told him we are going to try this one. I don't eat cheese (don't like it at all) but he loves cheese.
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