Cauliflower is the New Carb

Who new Cauliflower could be such a trickster?  I've seen many uses for cauliflower on social media, but was always a little skeptical if I could really 'secretly' replace it for some of our starchy staples.  My go-to taste-tester, my teenage son, has grown up sampling many of my food experiments, both good and not so good.  He's typically a good sport and will not only give most things a try, but give me his honest opinion.  He was cool with my Roasted Garlic Faux Mashed Potatoes and even had seconds, but when my dad, who is a super stubborn carb-lover enjoyed them too, I knew I should explore a few more ideas.

I really wanted to try cauliflower pizza crust, but I was only searching halfheartedly because I was warned it was a ton of work and a lot of time for a single meal.  Although I enjoy being in the kitchen, my schedule does not allow for wasted kitchen time.  Plus, some of the pictures I saw of others pizza on the cauliflower crust really didn't look all that appetizing.  I really wanted my son to enjoy a slice or two and I knew that would not happen if it didn't look like a regular pizza.

So, I searched the internet and came up with this recipe: The Secret to Perfect Cauliflower Pizza Crust.  The title alone made me take a look, because it sounded like exactly what I was looking for.

Showing off the Sous Chef

Plus any opportunity to chop up things in my lovely food processor is exciting.  I highly recommend making the investment, if you haven't already.  It saves a tremendous amount of time.

'Riced' Cauliflower

If you don't have a food processor and want to quickly 'rice' your cauliflower, use a large cheese grater.  Just watch those fingers as you get close to the end!

Boiling the cauli-rice is quick and simple.  Straining it is not if you don't have the right sized strainer.  I ended up buying a super-sized strainer after making this crust because I knew I would make it again and saving time is a must!










If you peeked at the recipe link, you'll know the secret is right here; squeezing the cauli-rice dry.  The cauli-rice will be super hot, so if you have those rubber oven-mitts, use them.















Finally mix up your crust.  The recipe link used goat cheese.  Since I'm not a big fan, I used fresh grated Parmesan.

Crust Ingrediants

Raw crust

The crust was easy to mix and then press into my heart-shaped pizza pan.  You want to keep it pretty thin.  Mine was about 1/4 inch.

Voila!  I LOVE this crust!!

Baked crust

Most importantly, my teen did too!  Here's the pic from my social media post recreating an old Valentine's Day photo.  I know the nutrients in this year's heart crust far out-weight those in the past.  I truly know how to LOVE my family!  XOXO