Recipe: Cauliflower Gratin (aka: Low Carb Quiche)

Most people who have spent more than 5 minutes around me lately know that I'm on this crazy low carbohydrate diet. (I'm sorry! I became a little...ok, a LOT, obsessed. I promise I'll stop talking about it soon.) However, I have found a few pretty great recipes lately I'm pretty sure someone who isn't on this type of diet would still like. This is one of them, found here, that we tweaked and now like even better.

When I made this the first time I forgot to add the heavy whipping cream. *face palm* It makes a big difference. Both Tim and I thought that it tasted a lot like quiche and that it would make a good main dish, as well as a yummy side dish.

Mashed Cauliflower Gratin

- 1 medium head cauliflower, chopped into florets (I grabbed a steam-in-the-bag frozen package that worked just as well)

- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 1 pinch nutmeg (about 1/8 teaspoon)

- salt and pepper to taste

- 3 eggs

- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

- 2 strips of bacon, cooked and diced

- 3 slices honey ham, diced

- 1 green pepper, diced

- 1/2 onion, diced

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cook cauliflower until fork-tender (microwave or steam)
• Blend cauliflower with cream, butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg. (I used a stick blender. The original author noted that if you use a regular blender, letting it cool a bit helps. Otherwise it might explode. Eek!)
• Add eggs and 1 cup of cheese. Blend.
• Stir in bacon, ham, pepper and onion.
• Pour into casserole or gratin dish, sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes, until top is golden brown. (Time varies by the shape of the dish)

Even Brenden said that this was "Yummy!" I'd call that a win.