We eat low carb-ish in the winter…did I tell you this already? And we still have an empty space where the kitchen used to be. Did you notice I didn’t say “where the new kitchen will be?” That’s because we still have a long way to go and I don’t want to get too attached to the outcome, yet.

Brian is home for spring break. Yes, I did make him a new flavor of ice cream. You’ll have to hop over to Chickpea and Rutabaga to find out the flavor. I refuse to tell you here whether or not it involves…bacon…But I digress. He is low-carb-ish also. Oh, you knew that already, too, because of the Zucchini post. I’m sorry, this renovation is starting to get to me and I’m repeating myself!

Before Brian travelled to New York from Washington, DC, we did what we usually do. We discussed the upcoming week of eating. I had just taught Karen how to make a meat sauce and doing this gave me a craving. As soon as I mentioned it to Brian, he caught my craving. Of course, we love our meat sauce over pasta, but we are staying away from pasta, so our conversation meandered over to permutations of cauliflower.

We all love a cauliflower puree. And we also really like “cauliflower rice” or “couscous.” But both of these involve lots of batches in the food processor. And let me tell you, the difference between the height of counters and the height of tables is significant! Even for a shorty like me! Try working lots of batches in the food processor on a tabletop; it’s not a healthy back activity So, I was looking for an alternative. And my problem solving resulted in a brilliant solution. If I do say so myself! The grating disk!

You must try this. It is so easy, so simple, and so good. Then, write me a comment and thank me because I am a genius. A humble genius!

Oh, before I get on to the recipe, I need to ask you for a favor again. Well, it’s the same favor I asked you in the last post. You can do it again. Or if you didn’t already, you could do it now…nominate Deb’s Pots for a Saveur Blog Award. You can do multiple nominations if you do on in each category that might apply. Nominate here.  Tomorrow is the last day. Thank you so very much!

And for those of you who are local, our annual Empty Bowls event is coming up! I’ll be there with lots of new bowls. Please join us March 20, 5-8 pm (Warwick Valley High School) for a cup of soup and help feed the hungry in the Warwick/Orange County Community.

Cauliflower Hash Browns

You could grate the cauliflower on a box grater, but if you have a food processor with a grater, use it for this, it’s sort of like a small miracle. I’m giving instructions assuming that you are situated for a miracle. If not, just ignore me and grate by hand.

This is great as a “bed” for your favorite sauce, chili, or stew.

Make it vegan or paleo: omit the cheese.

1 head cauliflower,washed and trimmed
½ cup parm
olive oil for greasing
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375°. Set up the food processor with a grating disk.

Cut the cauliflower into big chunks that will fit the feed tube of your food processor. I have a wide feed tube on my ancient, cracked machine. Cutting the head into eighths works perfectly. Just pop them into the tube and create fluffy mounds of white in a fraction of a second. If it reminds you too much of snow, you might have to wait a few months.

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish with olive oil. Toss the fluffs with salt and pepper and distribute evenly over the bottom of the dish.

Bake for 15- 20 minutes or until browned on top and cauliflower is cooked. Serve immediately. Top with extra cheese.