Faux Mac & Cheese
I’ve been finding all sorts of positives in my life of late, sans the Mr. The obvious positive is, he’s been shooting furniture out-of-state for a well-known retailer for 5 weeks now. Bringin’ home the bacon = good. Another less important but equally positive aspect is the ease of making the bed each morning. Basically with only me hunkered down I simply smooth the sheet and quilt, fluff my pillows and bingo the bed is nice and neat. No re-tucking kicked off corners, plumping the down topper, or starting from scratch as is often the case when there are two! Less laundry, no stray shoes cluttering the floor, only 2 towels to change out in the shower, and last but not least a meager grocery bill. Believe me there are some negatives too but we won’t dive into that.
I’ve enjoyed the challenge of cooking for one. I have leftovers, my favorite, most days to carry to work for my lunch. So really I cook for two and turn it into two meals for moi! My man Dan has a rather short list of favorite veggies. I’ve taken advantage of preparing some lovely vegetables that I don’t bother with when he’s here to share our meals. Roasted beets, sugar snap peas, zucchini and cauliflower. The recipe I’m sharing today is one for a faux mac and cheese, using cauliflower instead of pasta. Truthfully he’d probably eat this one as it supplies all the creamy, cheesy goodness of mac and cheese without the high starch content of pasta.
I took this recipe straight from the “Yoga Journal” and copied the recipe exactly as written. It is creamy and cheesy but next time I’m going to add a bit of zest. It is good but a bit bland. Possibly a variety of cheese and more cayenne, or some sliced green onions or garlic would do the trick. I’m sharing the recipe because it is tasty and good for you. If any of y’all try the recipe and spice it up please be sure and pop over with your recipe and results. I’m all ears!
Enjoy!
Mac and Cheese Style Cauliflower
8 cups cauliflower florets
2 Tbs. butter or margarine
3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
2 cups low-fat milk
1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp.)
2 cups grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add cauliflower florets, and boil 5 to 7 minutes, or until just tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid, and set aside.
2. Melt butter in same pot over medium heat. Whisk in flour, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Whisk in milk, garlic, and reserved cooking liquid, and cook 7 to 10 minutes, or until sauce is thickened, whisking constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in cheese, nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper, and egg yolks until cheese is melted. Fold in cauliflower.
3. Coat 13- x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread cauliflower mixture in baking dish, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Spray breadcrumbs with cooking spray. Bake 30 minutes, or until casserole is hot and bubbly and breadcrumbs are crisp and brown.
I enjoy cooking for one too. Cauliflower is one vegetable that my husband doesn’t enjoy roasted. I usually try out weird flavour combinations when cooking for one and I’m a bit more experimental.
I just like that I can make whatever I want and on my own time frame…..he should be home next week sometime and we’ll go back to all of his favorites for a while. I tend to be more experimental when he’s around so I can get an opinion – even if it is a biased one! haha
I wish my hubby liked cauliflower. It’s so tasty but I rarely fix it. Maybe when he goes to Des Moines next month I’ll make this…
There you go – problem solved. Anytime my hubby is away I make all the stuff he doesn’t care for. I thoroughly enjoy this! This recipe is a little tricky – if we didn’t tell them they might not know what the main ingredient is!
I love cauliflower au gratin and luckily my husband does as well.
Mine said it sounded good – of course it’s been a while since he had one of my home cooked meals!