But I keep seeing recipes that look absolutely amazing...yummy looking...and cauliflower is the base...and since I have a ton of cauliflower in my fridge left over from the holidays...meant for Crudités and not used at the last second because it didn't seem necessary...which basically means I just really don't like cauliflower...
I decided to make one of the recipes I saw online that looked super yummy, amazing, delicious, even though I was apprehensive it would be any of those things...
Of course, I didn't have all of the ingredients...like asparagus and miso...and lets face it, some ingredients are hard to find if you live in more rural parts of America as I discovered on my recent trip to my daughter's house in rural KY...so I decided to make due with what I had.
So, I changed the recipe immensely...but kept the general creamy feel...creamy being the key word because rich and creamy means comfort food to me...Since I'm not afraid to alter recipes. This wasn't really a challenge. The trick was, using what I had AND keeping it low fat.
Tangent: Here's a key gripe about a lot of raw food recipes I find, everything is marinated in oil and I cannot have oil...basically a drizzle of oil in my salad means I've ruined my 10gram goal for the day in one sitting, let alone the amounts (tablespoons and multiple ounces a lot of the recipes I see call for) ... So I have to adapt everything.
Example: Mushrooms do not need to be marinated in oil to get a "meaty texture"...and really, I don't necessarily want a "meaty texture" anyway...but sometimes I do marinate, using nama shoyu only. If you cannot find nama shoyu, my next choice would be a high end organic tamari (I spend a little more money on organic ingredients because the whole point of changing my diet was to get rid of all the toxins in my body and keep them out as much as possible)
So here is what I did for this lovely Cauliflower Salad, which the original recipe called a "Risotto"...she served a heated version (I think dehydrating and freezing alters the nutritional value of the food so I've been avoiding both whenever I can) and I'm keeping mine room temperature...
Creamy Cauliflower Salad with Spicy Mushrooms
Need for Spicy Mushrooms:
Mushrooms
Onion
Olives
Nama Shoyu
Hot Sauce
Need for Salad:
Cauliflower
Red Pepper
Carrot
Thyme (fresh is best, dried if fresh unavailable)
**Hummus
1. Marinated chopped mushrooms, onions, some raw olives in nama shoyu and hot sauce overnight but several hours would be sufficient. I made about 2 cups total.
2. 1 head finely chopped Cauliflower (about 2 cups)
3. finely chopped 1/3 of a Red Pepper
4. shredded a 5" piece of Carrot
5. Mixed cauliflower, red pepper, and carrot in a bowl with 1 T thyme
6. Added 6 T Super Garlicky Hummus
Allowed all flavors to combine in fridge for 2 hours...served with spicy marinated mushrooms on the side...and a huge mixed green salad with dried figs, sliced apples, sunflower seeds and a honey/apple dressing...
The most exciting part was the calorie/fat/nuitrition breakdown:
51 Cal 1.4 gFat 2.2gProtein 23%VitA 60%VitC 19%B6 10%B5
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, maybe...I am the writer, so I prefer words...but here's a picture too...
OMG...this meal was so delicious! And that from the girl who hates cauliflower. So this is definitely a keeper recipe
I am learning to not be afraid to keep trying veggies I previously didn't like, sometimes again and again, because I am finding that the longer I am on my raw journey, the more my tastebuds are changing. I didn't like kale before this summer. Now, I can't get enough of it. I didn't like coconut juice or water...now I drink about twenty ounces a day! (very alkaline and awesome for the body) And now CAULIFLOWER!
I see much more of this veggie in my future:)
**I always keep several flavors of hummus in my fridge...right now I have Super Garlicky which I made using this recipe because it didn't call for oil. I used Raw Tahini which I found at the health food store. And tripled the garlic called for. The blogger offers two recipe versions one that calls for tahini and one that solely calls for sesame seeds also a bonus for those days I don't have tahini in the house and always have an abundance of nuts and seeds...btw in a pinch pine-nuts or sunflower seeds can be substituted for the sesame seeds...I know because I've done both. If you absoltely have to have the oily, fat to help your hummus feel more (commercial) top with a drizzle of sesame oil to the final product...
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