Many times I’m asked what I do about meals that are usually accompanied by carbohydrates like potatoes, pasta or rice. If I’m eating this meal at lunch, and the type of rice, pasta or potatoes offered are prepared in a healthy way and contain fiber, I will choose the carbohydrate. But for a late afternoon or evening meal cauliflower is my go to food when one of these carbs is standard.

When I started to think about losing weight and maintaining a healthy body permanently, I knew I would need to make peace with vegetables, ugh 😖, my least favorite food. Here’s what I didn’t realize, it wasn’t the vegetables I didn’t like, it was the way I prepared them. (How was that possible?)

Cauliflower was one of them. Steamed cauliflower just didn’t do it for me. I stumbled across the recipe below, which I’ve been using for years. Because I’m not a fan of spending time in the kitchen, this one is quick and easy for me. Though tasty, the taste is also neutral enough so that it goes well under stroganoff, spaghetti, Chinese food or as a substitute for the “mac” in macaroni and cheese. For mac and cheese I add ground turkey to the cheese sauce. You could certainly also use vegetarian crumbles or ground beef.

As I was shopping in the produce aisle the other day I noticed a bag of “chipped cauliflower”. It looked like the pieces of cauliflower were a little bigger than a grain of rice. It said that you could use it, if prepared according to package directions, for a pizza crust! That’s an experiment I’d like to try, how about you?

With love, Jackie

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe 🍲

Ingredients

6 cups fresh cauliflower (about one medium head), cut into small bite-size florets
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil depending on the size of the head
1-2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt (use any type salt you like, or if you prefer, leave it out)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes*
Approximately 1/2 cup of vegetable or chicken broth
Directions
In a large bowl, combine cauliflower florets, olive oil, kosher or sea salt and crushed red pepper flakes, and toss. Add broth to bottom of 13×9 roasting pan. Cover roasting pan with tin foil, poke about 4 to 6 holes in tin foil cover and roast in oven at 400° for 20 to 40 minutes or more depending on how crunchy or soft you like it. Stir and check texture after 20 minutes. Continue roasting until you like the texture. (me this is about 30 minutes.)

* If you don’t like spicy food I would use less or leave the red pepper flakes out. You can also substitute any herb or spice you prefer such as garlic, curry, black pepper etc.