When I was a kid, I had what my mom called, "The Dorothy Hamil cut". It was basically, a blonde bowl cut. That hair cut, among other reasons, provided me with many choice nicknames growing up.
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| My family and my epic bowl cut. I can't lie, I actually like this picture. |
My close friends called me Col, they still do. As this caught on, it sometimes turned into Col-iflower. A nickname that I absolutely hated! My parents once told me part of why they chose the name, Colleen, was so that I wouldn't have a nickname. That didn't quite turn out as planned. Needless to say, I've never really liked the bland, boring vegetable, cauliflower.
Boy, was I wrong!
I am over a week (thank goodness) into a two week Paleo challenge. Let me just say. I love carbs. But I also wanted to know what the hype was all about. I've tried Crossfit. I wanted to die. But it was AMAZING to have a total body workout done in 20 minutes. But the diet phenomenon that goes along with Crossfit? I wasn't so intrigued. Until someone told me they didn't think I could make it on a Paleo diet for two weeks. BAM! It's on! And here I am!
SO what is Paleo... Essentially, it is eating the way our hunter gather ancestors would eat. No packaged foods (okay I cheat and buy my figs packaged and my nuts shelled, but really? that's too much). The diet includes lots of fruits and veggies, nuts, and proteins. It excludes dairy (the horror! please don't take away my cheese, this was my one concession, I ate dairy, growing girl, bone health, you know...) and grains, pasta, flour etc.
What I have learned from my Paleo challenge and all I will take away from such a restricted diet...Cauliflower will change your life!
It helps you to sneak some healthy additions into favorite foods! One example is mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes... I am probably the worst Irish girl in the world, I don't like potatoes, so this substitution meant nothing to me.
BUT I LOVE PIZZA, and the crust is the least nutritious part. Cauliflower to the rescue!
I made my favorite pizza, barbecue chicken, using Sweet Baby Ray's sauce and fresh cilantro (which is third on my favorite food items list - let's review 1. Gingerbread 2. Coffee 3. Cilantro)! BUT I made a Cauliflower pizza crust!
Cauliflower can also be used as a rice substitute. It makes a great fried rice or risotto!
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| Cauliflower Risotto...maybe a future post, still need to perfect it. |
Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Original recipe adapted from The Secret Life of Cauliflower
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| My BBQ Chicken Cauliflower Pizza Crust |
Total Prep Time: 10 minutes hands on
Start to Finish: 45 minutes for the crust, 5 minutes in the broiler for the toppings = 50 minutes
What you need:
- 2 cups grated Cauliflower - pulsed in a food processor until it looks like rice
- 1/4 c egg whites or egg substitute
- 1 cup low fat cottage cheese
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1 tsp Parsley
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees while you are grating your Cauliflower. Immediately put the Cauliflower rice in a large skillet and allow to cook with a tsp of water while you combine the other ingredients. In the food processor add all the other yummy stuff and pulse them to combine. By now, the Cauliflower rice should be almost translucent. Mix the Cauliflower rice with the wet ingredients in a big bowl. You can use a pizza stone, or a cookie sheet covered in parchment for the next step. Evenly spread the "dough" over the parchment. Bake 25-35 minutes, until lightly brown. Top with sauce and cheese and whatever other goodies you like on your pizza. Put it back in the oven until the cheese is bubbly and delicious! Enjoy!
What you get:
A delicious, no carb pizza crust! Extra protein from the cottage cheese! Cauliflower is an excellent source of Vitamin C (an antioxidant and essential in the building of collagen, which is part of all your connective tissues) and Vitamin A (great for vision), well as choline (it's a B Vitamin in cell membranes, especially in your Central Nervous System). Eat up!
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