Mashed Cauliflower

The weather the past couple of days has been warm but dreary.  Now that leave is over and David is back to work I'm trying to re-adjust to being home alone all day.  I'm surprised how much I miss having a job.  I'm a total homebody and I hate starting a new job, but even I see how ridiculous it is for a woman with no kids to not have a job.  There just isn't enough to do.  But I'm trying.  I've been spending my time looking for recipes with foods I can actually eat.  Cauliflower seems to be pretty popular right now.  I've seen it as a pizza crust, blended, mashed, baked, you name it.  I'm not really a fan of cauliflower, but these recipes got me curious.  So with all this time I have, I decided to give cauliflower a chance.  The rain and the gloom inspired me to make a comforting bowl of mashed cauliflower.  I was pleasantly surprised with how good this turned out.  I can imagine how much better it would be with butter, sour cream or cream cheese, but with this diet, it was good enough for me.

Mashed Cauliflower

 I found this recipe at Comfy Belly but added a few changes

Ingredients:

• 1 med. head of cauliflower
• 1 large clove of garlic, minced (I added more because I loooove garlic)
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. thyme (opt.)
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (opt.)
• 1/4 C. almond milk (or any milk, unsweetened)
• 3/4 C. water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Cut off the stock and chop the cauliflower into smallish pieces (it'll blend up easier with out big chunks) and put them in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the garlic, salt, olive oil, thyme, and red pepper to the bowl.  Mix until cauliflower is evenly coated.
4. Spread the cauliflower out on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 min. or until the edges start turning brown.
5. Remove cauliflower from oven and place in a blender.
6. Warm the milk and water (I put them in my Pyrex measuring glass and microwave for 30 seconds-1 min.).
7. Add liquid to the blender and blend until smooth.

Serves: 4 or so