I attempted a recipe from Pinterest today.
I know! I've become THAT mom.
It was touted as being mac-n-cheese, but with cauliflower instead of macaroni. Now, I know long-time readers might be wondering, "Hey - why don't you just serve the cauliflower with ketchup, the way you always have?" And the answer is "I don't know." I guess I was looking to make my mac-n-cheese healthier. Or maybe I was just trying to make my life more difficult.
Anyway, when I took a closer look, I realized that the ingredients for the recipe called for heavy cream and cream cheese in addition to the regular shredded cheese. I swear, my cholesterol rose 15 points just from reading the directions.
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| Cardiac Cauliflower |
So, in an effort to stay alive another couple of decades, I decided to take my regular mac-n-cheese recipe (which receives mixed reviews, but that is because I married a weirdo who doesn't like the heavenly combination of pasta and cheese and who passed that particular idiosyncrasy on to at least 2 of his children) and just substitute cauliflower instead. I know! The Pioneer Woman probably wishes she were me.
Seriously, who DOESN'T like mac-n-cheese? It's almost un-American.
After no little effort in the kitchen this evening, I ended up with what can only be described as some sort of cheesy cauliflower gravy. But, wonder of wonders, they ate it! Nobody cried! And no one even thought about asking for ketchup. Once I fine-tune this recipe, I'm going to post it to Pinterest and become famous. Among the mac-n-cheese-hating crowd, anyway...
[Cheesy Cauliflower image: LouAnne's Kitchen]
Neither of my girls likes mac & cheese, which is a shame, because the stuff I make is da bomb.
ReplyDeleteEvery 6 months or so, my hubs swears off pasta and jumps onto the South Beach Diet bandwagon. It's the worst few months of my life for dinnertimes. No mac and cheese. No bread. No yummy, cheesy, pastay goodness.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I DID just say pastay. Totally a word.
I can't wait for your Pinterest recipe!! (BTW, have you tried baked cauliflower? Its like candy. Seriously. Balsamic vinegar, some salt and some oven time and it is DELISH.)
I like Mac baked with a little kick to it. My friend tried pinterest inspired cauli-crust pizza. She said it was nasty :)
ReplyDeleteI'm dying! I know I pinned that recipe--maybe I re-pinned it from you? It is a good illustration of the anti-carb madness. "Don't eat evil pasta, but it's OK to eat heavy cream and a mountain of cheese!" I can't think of the name of that famous British cook for the masses--Jamie Something--but he has a great easy mach & cheese AND cauliflower recipe. Basically: boil your macaroni, only in the last three minutes of cooking, dump in some chopped cauliflower. Drain, put in casserole and mix with a bunch of shredded cheese and a little sour cream. Bake. Done. Delicious.
ReplyDeleteTry mixing in some fried chopped onion and fried chopped bacon. And broccoli. Looks healthy, tastes good!
ReplyDeleteBut --- the recipe has cauliflower in it. Doesn't that automatically wipe out any fat and calories from the other ingredients?
ReplyDeleteThe only pasta my picky eater eats is mac and cheese.
Rachael Ray had a mashed cauliflower and cheese recipe years ago and I made it and it was delish. After I bought all the things I needed for it, I was out 16 bux.
ReplyDeleteJamie Oliver. Yes. He's awesome. My kids will only eat mac 'n' cheese if it's my 'deluxe' mac 'n' cheese, which is macaroni with only a small bit of cheese mixed with broccoli, corn, and various other veggies. Sometimes I'll throw in ham. *shrug*
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky my kids like the cheap mac and cheese with the powdered cheese?
ReplyDeleteI like Patty La Belles over the rainbow mac and cheese. Healthy it is not, with the 5 kinds of cheese and half and half in it.
Atta girl--sneaking in the veggies with a dollop of healthy cholesterol--I see a future celeb cookbook in the making.
ReplyDeleteMy kids don't like any macaroni and cheese--from scratch or a box. They don't like cheese in any form unless it's on pizza. I'm torn between annoyance and relief that there is more cheese for me.
ReplyDeleteHeart-healthy congratulations to you for taking that recipe and making it your own -- and pleasing the household in the process!
ReplyDeleteMy husband made "surprise mashed potatoes" once... and only once. A cauliflower is still a cauliflower, no matter how much you try to call it something else.