Ok so I blog in fits & starts….I’m back! 🙂 This month I’ve been experimenting and have come up with some new, pretty tasty options….the first…cauliflower “Mac” & cheese.

It’s “mac” because there’s no macaroni. I started the recipe without the bread crumbs and the egg…but it was a little soupy and needed some body…so I made the addition. and it worked.

Equipment

• a large pot
• a sauce pan
• muffin tins (or a baking dish)

Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower
• 6 oz reduced fat cheddar cheese (I used dubliner sharp cheddar)
• 1/4 c skim milk
• 1/2 jalapeno chilli
• 1/2 c panko breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• dash mustard
• salt & pepper to taste
  

  Cauli mac muffin

The method

1. Break off the cauliflowerflorets from the stem. chop up the stem.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and toss the florets & stems in.
3. Boil until soft (you don’t want them mushy…you want them to still hold their shape). mine took about 10 mins. You could steam too.
4. Drain the cauliflower. Now preheat your oven to 350
5. Shred the cheese and place it into the pot.
6. Add the skim milk and mustard. Stir constantly until the cheese melts and it comes together as a cheese sauce.
7. Mix in the cauliflower.
8. Beat the egg and add to the mixture.
9. Stir in the panko breadcrumbs and jalapeno. Salt & pepper to taste.
10. Line a muffin pan with muffun cups (or just a baking dish). I made mine into individual portions using the muffin cups.
11. Divide up the mixture (mine yielded 6 portions). Bake for approx 20 mins or longer if you want it crispy. Mine just thickened up and got a little more texture.

For those of you curious about the nutrition information: