Showing posts with label cauliflower. Show all posts

Date Night Dinners - The Magic of Cauliflower

We have gone from pasta to cauliflower. Carb loaded to carb free. But it is all delicious. Gluten free, carb free is trending like it is their job right now. And while Brenden and I aren't hopping on the bandwagon and not looking back, we are giving it a try. We love all of the creative possibilities there are to make with cauliflower, so for now we are having a fun time experimenting and tasting our new dishes.
bagel breakfast carb free
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Date Night Dinners - Crockpot Carnitas and Cauliflower Rice

The great thing about crockpots is that they are suitable to use at any point in the year. They are perfect for wintertime comfort foods. They keep the kitchen from heating up too much in those hot sticky summer months. If you want a lazy day, throw all your ingredients in the pot, kick back and binge on netflix until its done. Or, if you're busy and on the go, get the crockpot going on your way out for the day and come back to a house filled with the smell of dinner goodness.
burrito carb free carnitas
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Date Night Dinners - Brenden's Burgers

Summer is here! Okay, maybe not, technically. But, with the alternating humid, 90 degree days with bright sunny, breezy days, it sure feels like it is here, and hopefully to stay. While I am in love with this weather, Brenden is quite the opposite of me. Remember the misery I was feeling just a few short months ago, with my frozen fingers and toes, well that is the misery Brenden is feeling now, just replace frozen with melting, and fingers and toes with entire body...at least I am finally comfortable.
burgers carb free cauliflower
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Date Night Dinners - Sausage, Shrimp, Cauliflower And More


It has officially been a month since I moved into my new place, and I have really begun to settle in. And by settle in, I mean I enjoy laying on the floor watching repeat episodes of my favorite shows on DVD sans furniture and cable. I have also gotten almost everything unpacked and put away, except for that one room that has collected the piles of random stuff I still have to sort through. You know the room. It isn't used much.
cauliflower Date Night Dinner recipe
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Date Night Dinners - Summer Veggie Bowls

It is now mid-August, can you believe that?! I know I can't. As always, summer is moving along way too quickly; I feel like just yesterday was June, and all the possibilities of summer were still unraveling. Unfortunately that is not the case. While I won't be having the summer-is-over-school-is-beginning blues this year (because I graduated), I will still have the yearning for the long days, warm temperatures, and sense of freedom to go anywhere that comes with the season.
Barbecue bbq cauliflower
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Date Night Dinners - A New Point Of View

This weeks date night dinner was a tried and true recipe. Pizza. Not just any kind of pizza, but the healthy kind. The thought of healthy pizza is enough to make one shudder at the thought. What is it missing? The sauce? the toppings? Heaven forbid you leave the cheese off. Fortunately all that was omitted was a traditional crust. For this crust we used cauliflower. I know, I can hear your brain exploding from here.

Tracy found this recipe back when she thought she could get me to eat healthy. (queue laughter) Usually we have to rice the cauliflower by hand with a grater, nowadays we just chop and throw in the food processor. Super quick and super easy.


Usually the crust turns out soggy and floppy, not really a pizza. It was more like sauce and pepperoni on cauliflower that kind of looks like rice. However, we learned a fantastic secret that we are going to share that really turned this recipe around for me. Get rid of all excess fluid. We threw balls of soon to be crust into washcloths and squeezed with everything we had. Then we mixed the crust back together and threw it in the oven for awhile. Then threw it back in for a little extra crisp.

We made a homemade buffalo chicken version this time which was a pretty fantastic idea. Blows plain turkey pepperoni out of the water. I was just happy I could add hot sauce and ranch to what would have been a relatively healthy meal.


This meal was one of my personal favorites and one I look forward to revisiting soon. It took one of my favorite meals and blended it together with my favorite veggie and made it work. Who knows, maybe Tracy can make me a healthy eater yet.

Utensil-less Cauliflower Pizza (Buffalo Chicken)
Recipe adapted from http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2013/08/cauliflower-crust-pizza/

Ingredients
(NOTE: I gave you the measurements and directions to make one pizza)
  • Cooking Spray 
  • 3 cups (one SMALL head) cauliflower, finely shredded (it is easiest to place cauliflower, stems removed, into a food processor, but you can also use a cheese grater) 
  • 1 egg 
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded 
  • 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded 
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt 
  • 1/2 tsp dried basil 
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano 
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder 
  • crushed red pepper flakes to taste 
  • 1 raw chicken breast, diced small 
  • 1/2 yellow onion, sliced thin 
  • 1/4 cup hot sauce, divided 
  • 1/4 cup blue cheese dressing 
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded 
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees with the baking sheet you will use inside the oven to get warm. 
  2. On a flat surface, place a large piece of parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray. 
  3. Place the cauliflower in a medium microwave safe bowl. 
  4. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. 
  5. Pour microwaved cauliflower on a clean dish towel. 
  6. Set aside and allow for it to cool until able to handle. 
  7. In the meantime, cook your chicken on medium-high in a skillet until thoroughly cooked. 
  8. Drain excess fat and liquid and set aside. 
  9. Spray the same skillet with cooking spray and add your onions to begin to caramelize. 
  10. Set the heat to medium-low and stir occasionally. 
  11. Set aside once caramelized. 
  12. Your cauliflower should now be cool enough, so back to the pizza "dough." Take the corners of the dish towel and wrap it around the cauliflower. Then wring out the excess water - as much as possible, you will get a lot I promise). This is the step that helps to keep the "dough" together. 
  13. When you have gotten as much water out as possible, place the cauliflower back into the medium bowl. 
  14. Add the egg, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, salt, basil (crush up the leaves even more between your fingers as you add it), oregano (crush up the leaves even more between your fingers as you add it), garlic powder, and crushed red pepper. 
  15. Mix it all together with your hands, almost as if to knead it together like dough. 
  16. Once all of the ingredients are well combined, place the "dough" on to your oiled parchment paper. 
  17. Pat the mixture into a medium-thin circle, making sure all of the "dough" is tightly formed together. 
  18. Remove your baking tray from the oven and carefully transfer the parchment paper with "dough" onto the center of the tray. 
  19. Place the baking tray (with the pizza) back into the oven and back from 11-15 minutes until it begins to turn golden brown. 
  20. While it is baking prepare the pizza sauce, mix together half of the hot sauce and all of the blue cheese dressing (equal parts), remember you can taste and adjust as you wish. 
  21. Next, coat the cooked chicken in remaining hot sauce. 
  22. When the pizza crust looks like it is getting golden, remove from oven. 
  23. Layer the pizza sauce you just made. 
  24. Top with chicken. 
  25. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese. 
  26. Top with caramelized onion. 
  27. Return pizza to oven and cook for another 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. 
  28. Remove from oven, cool, slice, and enjoy!
buffalo chicken cauliflower chicken
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