Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

Emily teases me all the time when I saw cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables because it's so versatile.  But it's so true!  This sauce is great.  Like seriously great.  Clinton even compared it to gravy (one of his favorite foods) and ate it by the spoonful.  Everyone loves the cheesy goodness of Alfredo, but who can afford to consume the massive amounts of calories and fat it's made up of?  Problem solved!  I'm convinced this will be an amazing combination with so many things.. we've had it combined with chicken, broccoli and linguine so far, and are putting it on top of spaghetti squash mixed with sautéed mushrooms tonight. 

Try it and see! 

Ingredients:

• 5-6 cups cauliflower florets (approx. 1 head)
• 6-8 minced garlic cloves
• 2 tbsps butter or olive oil (I tend to go for the EVOO over butter but what's not good cooked in butter?)
• 6-7 cups vegetable/chicken broth or water (the broth will lend to more flavor)
• 1 tsp salt, more to taste
• ½ tsp pepper, more to taste
• ½ cup fat free milk
• Optional: we also added in some cayenne pepper and green chile because we like spicy, and liberal amounts of Parmesan cheese because it's good on everything.  

Note: Play around with spices and flavors!  It is still cauliflower, so keep that in mind, but what a sneaky delicious way to add in more veggies to your diet..

Directions:

1. Bring the water/broth to a boil in a large pot. Add the cauliflower and cook, covered, for 7-10 minutes or until cauliflower is fork tender. You'll want to keep the some of the cooking liquid for your sauce, so just set the pot aside.
2. Sauté your minced garlic with the butter or EVOO in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Cook until the garlic is soft and fragrant, about 5-7 minutes.  Don't burn the garlic or you will have burnt garlic tasting sauce.. which is no bueno.  Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Transfer the cauliflower pieces to the blender, a slotted spoon is helpful for this to get all the little pieces over and ready to blend.  Add 1 cup vegetable broth or the cooking liquid that you made sure to keep, all the sautéed garlic, S&P, milk and anything else you want blended in. Puree for several minutes until the sauce is to the consistency you like.  Feel free to add more broth or milk depending on how thick you want the sauce. 
4. Serve hot over probably anything and enjoy! 

 

 

happy eating,

xoxo b

 

Serving size: 1/2 cup

Calories: 52 g

Fat: 3 g

Carbs: 6 g

Protein: 2 g

 

Red Beans and Rice

Becky and I decided that we would start doing weekly posts again!  Sooo, for the first new post in over a year - I just tried to throw together a slightly modified version of Red Beans and Rice.  It turned out pretty good! 


Recipe:

1 1/2 cups rice
2 cups chicken broth + 1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons oil
1 package of sausage, chopped into bite sized pieces (any kind will do, traditionally it is andoiulle but I used kielbasa)
1-1.5 pounds ground turkey
Garlic
1/4-1/5 diced onion
1 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes with green chiles (including the liquid)
1 15 ounce can red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 15 ounce can hominy (golden or white, drained)
Tony C's
S&P

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine rice, chicken broth and water.  Add the butter (just let it float on top) and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook for 15 minutes or until all liquid is dissolved and rice is cooked.

 

While the rice is cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan. I like to add the sausage first to give it a little more time to cook. Then add onion and garlic and cook until soft. 

 

 

Add the ground turkey, cooking completely through.  

Next, add the diced tomatoes, kidney beans and hominy and cook for 3-4 minutes on medium low. Season heavily with Tony C's and S&P.

 

 Once the rice is cooked, combine with the other ingredients (stir in thoroughly). Cover and simmer for 10 minutes on low.