For What It's Worth


Monday, January 11, 2016

Karen's Adventures in Cooking: Primal Twice Baked Caulifower

I’m starting a new cooking feature here to catalogue my cooking hits and misses.

I also want to organize and clean out my growing pile of cookbooks and cooking magazines. So I’ll be trying a few recipes from each one to see if it’s worth keeping on the shelf.



My first recipe is from SparkRecipes – Primal Twice Baked Cauliflower. Kind of a weird name but I thought it would be a good recipe to kick off 2016 since that’s when everyone is clamoring for healthy recipes after months of indulging in holiday goodies.



This recipe was easy peasy! You microwave the cauliflower, then pulse it in your food processor until it’s a whipped, mashed potato consistency. I was kind of surprised how much it looked like real mashed potato.



Then you stir in your usual twice baked potato additions – in this case a little butter, low fat yogurt, reduced fat sour cream, reduced fat cheese, garlic and bacon bits, Pop it in the oven to bake – then broil for a few minutes and voila!



Verdict: I love anything veggie so this wasn’t a hard sell for me. I knew I was going to like it but my husband is not a fan of cauliflower so I let him be the judge. He liked it! Like, REALLY liked it - went back for a second serving. I call this one a success! It wasn’t *quite* mashed potatoes but it didn’t taste like boring cauliflower either. It had a great, twice baked, mashed potato like, texture and the sour cream/yogurt added a nice tang. And of course cheese! You can’t go wrong with cheese.

Even though this is intended as a healthy substitute for twice baked potatoes, I thought it was delicious and stands on it’s own. I will definitely be making it again.

*My adjustments. I cooked up my own bacon instead of using bacon bits and used a 24oz Corelle baking dish instead of the four ramekins. I used full fat cheese because…c’mon! Also my head of cauliflower seemed a little small so I used the whole head instead of half as the recipe called for.

I think I might try a different cheese the next time. Maybe Blue cheese. Mmmmmm…

Tips:
Freeze extra bacon in serving size packages so you can pull out just what you need. Here’s a tutorial but I’m lazy so I just stick it in a bag rather than go through those steps. lol

Cook bacon in the oven! This is the best way to cook bacon – each slice is perfect every time. Add a little brown sugar sprinkled on top if you want to make it a little fancy.

24 comments:

  1. Hmm, maybe I will be like hubby then and like it cos cauliflower, booo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kevin hates cauliflower but he asked me to make this again.

      Delete
  2. I really should not be looking at all that goodness, especially since I'm trying to watch what I'm eating! It's so hard sometimes and everyone deserves a treat every now and then, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  3. that looks yummy and probably tastes yummy too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm looking forward to your adventures! I was also thinking of posting some recipes again (if I stuck with blogging this time around)

    I've also been wanting to try a type of whipped cauliflower but was hesitant since my hubby isn't a fan. I'll defn have to try this one if Kevin gave it his seal of approval

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This was a fairly tame adventure for me lol I usually make a complete mess!

      Delete
    2. Me too lol. That's how you know you're doing it right. The bigger the mess, the better the food :-p

      Delete
  5. omg I would eat that whole thing. I love cauliflower and with all that dairy -yum.
    Weirdly, I just read an article yesterday about how El Nino has made veggie prices go up and they specifically named cauliflower as something that has suddenly doubled or tripled in price. Not that I'd really know how much a head of cauliflower usually costs since I rarely buy it...
    Jen @ YA Romantics

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you could cut back on most of the dairy and it would still be delicious.

      I bought my cauliflower at the farmers market so I don't know but I also heard something like 30,000 cows died in that blizzard that went through TX so the prices will go up for that too.

      Delete
  6. I am going to try this! I really love cauliflower, and I'm trying to eat less potatoes, but oh, do I love twice baked potatoes- this seems like a great substitute!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mmmm I love mashed cauliflower but haven't done this way. Totally gonna have to :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. A non-meat eater who is always on the look out for new recipes. This looks a lot nicer than it sounds and is definitely one I'll be trying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not vegetarian but I don't eat much meat. You could totally make this vegetarian or vegan.

      Delete
  9. Wow that looks really good...maybe I could trick hubby into eating veggies! Though I'm not really seeing how it's that much healthier than potatoes...it's the bacon, sour cream etc that make it unhealthy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess because you use all low fat ingredients - but you can do that with potatoes too. I didn't look into it but from the recipe name I wonder if it's a paleo kind of recipe and anti - carb??

      Delete
  10. Looks yummy, I would prob ruin the healthy factor with too much cheese and bacon

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh this looks good and I like cauliflower! I totally agree that bacon bits should be out. So much salt. :p I think your substitutions are delish!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh fun new feature! I could really use some new recipes that aren't too bad for you and aren't too difficult to make. This looks super yummy - I really like cauliflower.

    -lauren

    p.s. I have read Tied to Trouble (my review goes up tomorrow, but thanks for the suggestion!! I loved it.)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Husband hates regular ol' cauliflower (even though I LOVE it), so I think I'll try this recipe out. I know a lot of people who swear that it's better than mashed potatoes and a few people who say it's nothing like it.

    I look forward to all the awesome recipes Karen! <3

    ReplyDelete
  14. WOW My family LOVES cauliflower sooo will have to try these when the boys are home! YUMMY!

    ReplyDelete