Cauliflower Mac N’ Cheese
I’m a glorified carbohydrate addict. If I had to pick just one dish to eat for the rest of my life, well, it’d be a pasta sandwich topped with mashed potatoes.
As much as I adore carbs, I don’t adore the spot they’ve taken up on my hips. Or in my thighs. And most certainly NOT in my stomach. In a perfect world, I’d eat all the carbs I could possibly muster and they would either have no calories or all of the excess sugar/fat would go right into my boobs.
But we don’t live in a perfect world and my favorite pasta mashed potato cinnamon roll sandwiches are going right to places I can’t have them going. This means, much to my own dismay, I’m forced to replace my favorite carbs with vegetables. This isn’t too terrible given my affinity for vegetables, but it’s harder than I thought.
As hard as it is, I will say one thing – it’s giving me the chance to really play with flavors and find ways to make my favorite dishes taste amazing despite the lack of their main ingredient. Which is how this delicious cauliflower mac n’ cheese came to exist. In place of pasta, I opted for little heads of my favorite vegetable.
Not only does this amazing concoction taste like my favorite cheesy comfort food, it makes it completely gluten-free, extremely low-carb and even richer in fiber.
If this is what low-carb diets look like in real life, well shoot, I should have signed up months (re: years) ago.
Cauliflower Mac N’ Cheese
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Serves about 8. Adapted from Vegetarian Times.
Prep time: 10 – 14 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: About 44 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 large head cauliflower (at least 1 1/2 pounds) cut into florets
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 cups low-fat milk
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 egg yolks, whisked
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs*
- Salt and pepper
*OPTIONAL. Omit if you’d prefer gluten-free.
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a standard size baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Add a dash of salt. Add the cauliflower florets and boil for about 5 minutes, or until fork tender.
- In another saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour until a thick paste forms. Gradually add in the milk, one cup at a time, or until mixture is thick (it should coat the back of a spoon). Remove from heat and immediately whisk in cheese, nutritional yeast and egg yolks.
- Add the cauliflower and fold in until evenly coated. Add salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and additional salt and pepper.
- Bake until cheese is bubbly, about 30 minutes.
- Serve with fresh greens, like parsley.
Nutritional information per serving:
Calories: 361
Fat: 14.2 grams
Carbohydrates: 23.25 grams
Fiber: 8 grams
Protein: 25.2 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 8
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