This delicious, cheesy recipe is reminiscent of your favorite mac-n-cheese, but without the high carbs/starch content. It’s a wonderful vegetarian or low carb-dish.
If you prefer a gluten-free option use 1 1/2 Tablespoons of arrowroot powder or tapioca flour instead of flour.
You’ll Need:
* 1 large head cauliflower (1 1/2 lb.), cut into medium florets (8 cups)
* 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 pinch cayenne pepper
* 2 egg yolks
* 1 c. Panko Breadcrumbs (*optional)
Preheat the oven to 350F
Steam the cauliflower florets until slightly tender. (You can do this by boiling a pot of water- salt it lightly), and cooking them for approx 6 minutes. I use our Orka Vegetable steamer pan and cook for 4 minutes.
In the meantime, in a medium saucepan melt butter, whisk in flour and cook for 1 full minute, whisking constantly.
Add garlic and milk, stirring constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens, remove from heat and stir in cheese, cayenne pepper, and egg yolks, whisking constantly until smooth.
If you intend to make this a low carb dish, omit the breadcrumbs!
Spray a 9×13 pan generously with cooking spray, add steamed cauliflower florets, pour cheese sauce over the cauliflower, making sure to coat all pieces well. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs (lightly spray breadcrumbs with cooking spray if you want them to brown well!), bake at 350F for 30 minutes
This makes a hearty meatless main dish or a delightful side dish with grilled meats.
Serves 8 (1 cup each)
this sounds really great!! I admit I don’t eat cauliflower much, but this, I’d like to try!
I like the idea of getting more veggies in my family this way!
Ok I have to say it, you mention the high carbs in pasta, but then your recipe calls for flour which is also carbs. If you’re really going for low carb I suggest replacing that flour with arrow root or xanthan gum.
Hehe, there’s always one in every crowd, right..
there are 86 grams of carbs in a serving of spaghetti
there are 95 grams of carbs in 1 cup of flour- (16 tbs) 95/16 = 5.9gm
there are 3 Tbs in the entire recipe- which is 17 grams of carbs. Divided by 8 Servings which equals 2.22 grams of carbs per serving.
I think that’s still considered Low Carb, by any standard.
Arrow root powder actually has 113 grams of carbsper cup, which is considerably more than flour. Xanthan gum is a largely indigestible polysaccharide.
I tried the recipe tonight and the sauce wasn’t creamy at all. I thought I followed directions exactly. Well, except one head of cauliflower was only 4 cups not 8. Luckily I had some California Mix veg in the freezer so I threw that in to boil too.
It was delish … if I can just figure out why the sauce was grainy.
Graininess happens when you cook with the heat set too high. It causes the cheese to seperate (& the milk too!) which in turn leaves a grainy texture. Next time reduce the heat considerably and bring it to a simmer, but don’t Boil it.