Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Hands down, my favorite cheat meal is pizza!  I don't eat it as often as I could, for obvious reasons (it goes straight to my rear end!) but when I want a healthier version of my beloved favorite food, I opt for the cauliflower crust!  When I talk about making my pizza crust out of cauliflower, I almost always get the strangest looks.  It may sound strange, but believe me, it is delicious.  Nothing will ever top the taste of a traditional pizza, but this does come in a close second!  Enjoy!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower, cooked and riced
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
Desired pizza toppings
Coconut oil to coat pizza pan/stone

Preheat the oven to 450*.  Coat pizza pan/stone with coconut oil.  In a large bowl, combine cauliflower, cheeses, egg, garlic, oregano, garlic powder and sea salt.  Pour out onto pizza pan/stone and using your hands, gently pat the cauliflower mixture to form a round "crust".  Bake for 15 minutes (may take a few minutes longer, depending on desired crust thickness) or until golden brown.   Remove the crust from the oven and change the oven setting to "broil".  Top the crust with desired toppings and broil for 3-4 minutes.

Kung Pao Cauliflower

I'm sure you can tell, I use cauliflower in a lot of my recipes.  It is a vegetable that is so universal and can pretty much take on any flavor it is cooked with.  My Orange Cauliflower recipe was such a hit in my house, I decided to try another Asian chicken dish with cauliflower.  Enjoy!

Kung Pao Cauliflower

Ingredients

2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 green onions, chopped and divided in half
1/3 cup raw cashews
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Cooked brown rice for serving






Kung Pao Sauce

2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp organic tomato ketchup
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp cornstarch

In a small bowl, mix all Kung Pau Sauce ingredients, set aside.

In a large wok, heat coconut oil over medium heat.  Add cauliflower and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove cauliflower from wok and set aside (cauliflower will not be cooked all the way, as it will be added back to the wok to cook more).  Add peppers to the wok, cook for 3 minutes.  Add cauliflower back to the wok and cook with peppers for an additional 5 minutes.  Vegetables will be cooked, but not mushy.  Add ginger, garlic, 1/2 green onions, cashews and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes to incorporate flavors.   Add sauce mix to wok and cook over high heat, until thickened, about 1 minute.  Serve over brown rice, topped with additional green onions.

Vegetarian Meat(less)loaf

I am the only one in my small family of 3 that does not eat meat.  My husband is a meat eater of every sort.  We buy our meat from a local farmer and I prepare meat for him and my daughter and try to match what I am having to theirs as close as possible.  They also eat what I'm cooking, but along with some sort of meat.  One thing that they love that couldn't get more "meaty" if it tried, is meatloaf.  I have strayed from cooking it because I didn't know what would pair well with it for me, other than a plain vegetable.  I need more substance for my dinners other than just vegetables (may sound weird considering I am a VEGetarian).

A couple months ago, I shared my Brown Rice Burger and thought, if I can make a burger patty, why can't I incorporate some of that recipe into a meatloaf form.  I did adjust the recipe to accommodate a larger version, and I added some steamed cauliflower to give it a bit more than just brown rice as a base.  Enjoy!

Vegetarian Meat(less)loaf

Ingredients

1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms, diced
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 head of cauliflower, steamed and riced
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
Organic tomato ketchup for topping

Preheat the oven to 400*.

In a large pan, over medium heat, add onion and mushrooms.  Sauté for 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.  While onions and mushrooms are cooking, in a large bowl, combine cooked rice, steamed and riced cauliflower, eggs, bread crumbs, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and salt and pepper to taste, set aside.  When onions and mushrooms are fully cooked, remove them from heat and add them to the bowl with the rice and cauliflower mixture.  Mix well to make sure all ingredients are incorporated.  Add mixture to a coconut oil greased loaf pan and form into a loaf shape.  Cook for 45 minutes or until top becomes golden brown.  Serve topped with organic tomato ketchup.