Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

Confession: I hate cauliflower.

Raw, it burns the roof of my mouth. Weird, right? Maybe it's an allergy...Cooked in macaroni and cheesy goodness, however, cauliflower is magnificent!

I adapted this recipe from Runner's world to make my mac and cheese. My friend's wife who has an aversion to all veggies tried it and love it as is. I made mine with a greater cauliflower to pasta ratio and added some other goodies.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 c vegetable broth
• 1 head cauliflower (mine was HUGE and made ~6c chopped and cored)
• Salt - enough for salting boiling water
• 1.5 TBS dried mustard
• 1c shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2TBS olive oil + 1 TBS
• 1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ~3/4 lb (4c dry) pasta (elbow, bowtie, or ritoni would probably work best)
• Black pepper to taste
• 1/2c Parmesan cheese

Makin' Mac Magical...

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Heat 2.5 c veggie stock in a sauce pan to a boil, then turn off heat.
3. Boil a large pot of salted water
4. Cut and core 1 head of cauliflower (~6c total)
5. Boil cauliflower for 15 minutes.
6. Saute chopped onion and garlic in 1TBS olive oil until translucent.
7. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cauliflower from the pot of water to a colander set over a clean dish towel. You will re-use the boiling water for the pasta.
8. Add pasta to the boiling water, cook according to directions on package (something like boil for 8-10 mins)
9. Press a plate or bowl down on the cauliflower to press out excess water. Transfer the cauliflower to a blender (or food processor if you're lucky enough to have one!).
10. To the blender, add the warm vegetable stock, sauteed onion and garlic, 1.5 TBS dry mustard, 1c shredded cheese, 1/4 tsp nutmeg 2 TBS olive oil and pepper (~0.5 TBS). Blend until smooth.
11. Mix blender contents and drained pasta. Transfer to a 9x13 pan sprayed with olive oil.
12. Top with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese on top melts ans browns a bit.

Colorless Cauliflower...

In a previous post, I promoted eating colorful foods - especially fruits and veggies - for the phytochemicals they contain. Cauliflower may be white... but it does not lack in nutritional value!
Cauliflower has an extremely low glycemic index of 2 (on a scale of 0-100). It's also a fabulous source of fiber, folate, and vitamins C and K. Fun fact: humans and guinea pigs are the only animals on earth that cannot make their own vitamin C!

Furthermore, a study published in 2011 (Hooper, L.V.) found that specific dietary compounds present in cruciferous vegetables (like cauliflower and broccoli) promote intestinal immune function. Your intestinal tract is something of an MVP for your immune system, so keeping your digestive tract healthy keeps YOU healthy.