Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Ah, Fall. I have such mixed feelings about the change of seasons.  Let's see... I really don't like that the days are getting shorter and cooler.  And I am not happy about the rainy days we are having right now either, even if we really need the rain after the unusually hot and dry Summer we enjoyed!  On the other hand, I do love that some of my very favorite things to eat are more readily available and more reasonably price with the onset of the Fall harvest.

One of these favorite things is red peppers!  And when they are on sale at my local market, I buy a huge bagful and always roast some almost immediately. I love them sliced up on salads, and in omelets, on burgers, and especially in home made soups.  Today I am sharing a quick and easy way to put together a lovely one... Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup.

It is just a matter of roasting the peppers and then pureeing them with a can of diced tomatoes.  If you are not sure how to do this, I have included a link to a little tutorial about it in the first recipe instrucion (which also has another delicious soup recipe).  It is so easy... just takes a bit of time.  You can season  your soup with basil and oregano, or leave plain and just add some salt and pepper. As is, it is vegan but if you don't care about that, you can  make it a little fancier and even company-worthy with the addition of a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese.  It is truly delicious!

You might enjoy this soup as a first course at dinner, or as your main course at lunch. I have even slurped a bowlful as an afternoon snack.    Yes, the best part about Fall is definitely homemade soup!

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
Makes 4 servings, approximately 1 cup each

Ingredients:

• 3 red peppers
• 1 28-ounce can (798 ml) diced tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• dashed of basil and oregano (optional)

Instructions:

1. Roast red peppers and allow to cool before removing seeds and skin.
2. Place the peppers in a large bowl along with the tomatoes.
3. Puree the veggies with immersion blender and pour into to saucean to heat.
4. Warm soup to desired temperature over MEDIUM heat on stovetop.
5. Remove to serving bowls and season.  Garnish as desired.
6. Leftover soup may be stored in refrigerator for a couple of days or frozen.

1 serving, without garnish

WW SP = 0 (vegetables are 0 SP foods so nothing to count here)

Calories 70

Saturated Fat 0g

Carbohydrates 14.1g

Fibre 3.6g

Sugars 5.1g

Protein 2.6g

I always make a few extra, for omelets, burgers, salads...  yum!

After seeding and removing the skin.

Season with salt and pepper, and a bit of dried basil and oregano if you like them.

A bit of shredded parmesan cheese adds a lot of flavor and only a few calories.

Are you a fan of roasted red peppers, too?  What is your favorite way to enjoy them?

Avocado and Egg Salad

I picked up a bag of 5 very large, and almost ripe, avocados at Costco one day last week.  They are absolutely delicious... is there anything more delightful than a perfectly ripe avocado?  I have been trying to think of new ways to eat them up... and came up with this Avocado and Egg Salad for dinner.

I want to try a few new things that I hope The Captain will enjoy as well.  He is not always very keen on the creamy texture of plain avocado.

In the Spring and Summer when we are spending more and more time outdoors, I keep some things on hand in the refrigerator to put together quick meals.  Hardboiled eggs is one of my favorite go-to items... so while I washed and cut up some greens, The Captain peeled some eggs, and our dinner came together rather quickly.

And it was wonderful!  I am sharing the ingredients I used for 2 fairly large dinner salads.  I think the next time I make this, I will try adding some crumbled bacon and some capers for garnish and a flavor boost.

Avocado and Egg Salad
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 cups salad greens, washed and dried
• 10 grape tomatoes cut in half
• 3 or 4 thin slices of red onion
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 mini cucumber, cut into slices
• 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and slices
• 1 large avocado, washed, peeled and cut into chunks
• Salt and pepper

For the dressing:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/1/2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
• splash of lemon juice

Directions:

1. Place the salad greens in 2 serving bowls and set aside
2. Put the tomatoes, red onions, parsley, cucumber, eggs, and avocado in a medium mixing bowl.
3. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and pour over the eggs, etc in the mixing bowl.
4. Toss gently.
5. Spoon the mixture over salad greens and serve with salt a pepper to season.

Per serving.

Weight Watchers SP = 8.  *

Calories 273

Saturated Fat 5g

Sugar 2g

Protein 9g

* Using the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder (which will not add points for the onion, cucumber, tomatoes, and parsely, it comes to 8 SP. If you calculate using the N.I. it will come to 9 SP)

Not only pretty but delicious and filling too!

The Captain had some rye bread toast with his!

Printable Recipe

If you are interested in learning more about the health benefits of avocados and other interesting facts about them, please check out this article called 13 Health Benefits of Avocado.

Tell me you love avocados too!  What is your favorite way to serve them?

If you like this idea, I hope you will PIN it!

Favorite Fall Soups... My Current Top 5

It's soup weather at my house!  The best thing about the changing temperatures... getting cooler... is that I start to really enjoy those foods that I tend to think of as Fall Favorites.  You know what I mean... soups, stews, chilis... and it's time to get the slow cooker out of storage, too.

I have so many Fall soups in my lineup and I find it quite difficult to pick out just a few to call favorites, but these all have something a bit unique about them and are different fromo some others that you may find on Pinterest or by Googling so I want to highlight them here and share them with you.

Some are vegetarian, some are not, but all of them are gluten free and of course, delicious!  If you want, replace the chicken/turkey stock in any of these recipes with a veggie broth, or even plain water. The spices will take care of the flavor!

Here is the lineup.... in no particular order... with links to the original blog posts where you will find the story behind the soup, and of course, the recipe!  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do at our house.  Just click on the picture to find the link.


Roasted Red Pepper Soup
(with instructions as to how to roast red peppers in your oven)

Spicy Carrot and Butternut Squash Soup

Better Than Noodle Chicken Soup

Cauliflower and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Curried Coconut Sweet Potato Soup

What is your favorite Fall soup ingredient?

Spicy Roasted Carrots

Ah, Thanksgiving Dinner... it's over... and we are enjoying the leftovers a little at a time.  The turkey carcass is in the freezer waiting to be hoisted into the crock pot to make soup... in a few weeks when the weather gets a bit cooler.

This year there were just the two of us for dinner so I made sure to serve things the way that The Captain likes them.  If left to his own choices, he would have a big plateful of turkey, bread stuffing, and potatoes... topped with gravy and cranberries.  So, I like to come up with a vegetable side dish that he will find particularly appealing, and that I will enjoy too.

I decided to do something with carrots.  And, rather than just cutting them up and steaming them, I chose to roast them with some spices.  It definitely made them a bit more special and added eye appeal as well.  And don't you eat with your eyes? I know I do. The spices were a nice contrast to the rest of the dinner and complimented the turkey quite nicely.

I will definitely be making this dish again.

It's easy and quick and can be prepped ahead of time... it can even be cooked ahead of time and then either kept warm or reheated if you like. I baked it in a serving dish to make it really easy.  If you are feeding a larger group, or want to have some for leftovers, double or triple the recipe and use a cookie sheet for cooking.

Spicy Roasted Carrots
Makes 2 servings

• 3 large carrots, washed and cut into 1/4-inch slices, slightly on the diagonal
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
2. Coat baking dish lightly with a non-stick spray.
3. Place the carrot slices and spices in a bag and shake a few times till the carrot slices are covered with the spice mixture.
4. Pour the carrots onto the baking dish and place in the oven.
5. Cook for 30 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and serve warm.

If you are a Weight Watcher, then you know that carrots are a zero-point veggie... so I am not bothering with nutritional information here.

Printable Recipe

Ready to pop into the oven.

What is your favorite way to prepare carrots?

Plantain Sandwich Bread

I am going on vacation in a few days and won’t be posting anything new for the next few weeks so I want to leave you with something new that I am very excited about. I call it Plantain Sandwich Bread.  It is gluten free, grain free, Paleo and vegetarian.  And there are only 2 ingredients.

I have been reading about plantains for some time now and was finally intrigued enough to really search for them at my local markets last week.  I did find some and purchase a fairly large one.  I let it sit on the counter about 5 days before it turned yellow and looked ripe enough and felt soft enough to use.

After looking at the nutritional information for plantains I decided that there is enough carbohydrates in them to think about using them in pancakes, waffles, flatbreads, and the like, so I started looking on Pinterest for different ideas.  And I found lots of them, most having several ingredients.  So, after tossing some ideas around it my head, I decided to start out with something very simple and put together this bread.

It is a softer bread than my Low-Carb Flatbread but not as soft and pliable as my Low-Carb Tortillas, both of which are made with cauliflower and eggs.  This Plantain Sandwich Bread is also slightly sweeter than those, too.  Now that makes sense, as the plantain is much more like a banana and is certainly starchier and sweeter than cauliflower.

I purchased a large plantain. It weighed about 16 ounces before I peeled it. And it peeled much like a banana does, although the skin is a bit thicker and not as pliable as a banana peel.
I think I might have found a new favorite ingredient here! 

This bread is soft like a real flour-based bread and can easily be folded. I have used it to make both open-faced and closed sandwiches.  And it can be popped into your toaster as well.  Very versatile. Very easy. Very quick. I hope you will give it a try.





Plantain Sandwich Bread
Fills a standard size cookie sheet

• 1 large plantain (15 – 16 ounces before peeling)
• 3 large fresh eggs

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Peel the plantain and cut into slices and place in food processor or blender.
4. Add 3 fresh eggs to the plantain and puree till smooth and thick.
5. Pour the mixture onto the parchment paper and spread almost to the edges of the cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 25 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and lift the paper off the cookie sheet and set on wire baking racks for about 2 or 3 minutes.
8. Gently flip over and carefully peel the paper away from the bread.
9. Allow to cool before cutting into 12 rectangular pieces.

The whole recipe.
Weight Watchers P+ = 16.
Calories 673; Protein 24g; Carbohydrate 119g; Fat 5g; Fibre 8g.

I cut mine into 12 slices for sandwiches and used 2 per serving.
Per serving.
Weight Watchers P+ = 3.
Calories 112; Protein 4g; Carbohydrate 20g; Fat 3g; Fibre 1g

UPDATE

This is a recipe that I use a lot so wanted to make sure to translate the N.I. into Weight Watchers SmartPoints (new Dec 6th, 2015).  Here is how it shakes out...

The whole recipe.
Weight Watchers SmartPoints = 27.
Calories 673; Saturated Fat 5g; Sugar 60g; Protein 24g.

I cut mine into 12 slices for sandwiches and used 2 per serving.
Per serving.
Weight Watchers SmartPoints = 4.
Calories 112; Saturated Fat 1g; Sugar 10g; Protein 4g.Protein 4g.

Obviously the high sugar content in the plantain is what has driven the values higher in the new SmartPoints calculation.  Still worth it to me, however!

My plantain was ripe and had some brown spots on the peel.

I sliced the ends off and then cut it in half to make it easier to remove the peel. Then I cut down the length of one half and slowly pried the cut apart with my fingers.

Whizzing the plantain and eggs together in my food processor.

A thick and frothy batter.

Remove the bread, still on the paper from the cookie sheet. Then flip it over and gently peel the paper away from the bread while it is still warm.

After the paper is removed completely…

flip it over and allow it to cool for a few minutes before…

cutting it into slices. 

I put 2 slices on a dinner plate to give a better idea of their size.

They are nice for open faced sandwiches but not too thick for a closed sandwich too.

And the bread is also strong enough to be spread with semi soft cheese or butter or nut butter, too.

Printable Recipe

I would love to know if you are using plantains in your kitchen these days and what you like to make with them.

Roasted Cauliflower and Onions with Parmesan Cheese

I love cauliflower!  My Mother would be so proud of me if she knew that.  I would never eat it as a child without a gallon of milk to wash down each bite,though, and because my Father didn’t care for it either, she never  served it at home. I use it in a variety of ways to make grain free pizza crust, tortillas, flatbreads, rice, and in soups and stews... but hardly ever just as side dish.  For some reason I have been craving it lately.  This Roasted Cauliflower and Onions with Parmesan Cheese, which has lots and lots of garlic, too, is truly delicious.  I might even get The Captain to try it!  The cheese interests him a lot.

I have used coconut oil instead of my usual olive oil here in roasting these veggies. I am making an effort to use more coconut oil in my cooking these days and this is a natural fit.

You cannot imagine how good the aroma coming from kitchen was as this baked away in my oven! I wish I could capture that and share it with you!  The whole, smashed cloves of garlic in this dish smell just wonderful as they cook.  And yes, my windows are still open wide, long after removed the pan from the oven.

I calculated the N.I. for this dish as 4 servings, but honestly, I could easily make a meal of this just for myself!  And if you like really cheesy, by all means... add more!

A word of caution here… don’t slice the onions too thin or they will just disappear as they bake.  I like to leave them at least 1/2 inch in width.

Roasted Cauliflower and Onions with Parmesan Cheese
Makes 4 generous servings

• 1 large head cauliflower
• 1/2 medium to large white onion (cut it in half vertically)
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 Tbs coconut oil
• Dashes of salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese 

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
2. Wash the cauliflower and remove its core and leaves. Break it into flowerettes and place them in large bowl.
3. Slice the onion vertically and place the pieces in the bowl with the cauliflower.
4. Add the peeled and smashed garlic cloves to onions and cauliflower and toss altogether.
5. Drizzle the coconut oil over veggies and mix well.
6. Pour it all into a roasting pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
7. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
8. Remove the pan from the oven, and stir veggies. 
9. Place the pan back in oven and bake for another 20 minutes.
10. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the veggies with the parmesan cheese.
11. Place the pan back in the oven for a final 20 minutes.
12. Remove from the oven. 
13. Serve warm or cooled.

Per serving.
Weight Watchers P+ =  3.
Calories 132; Protein 7g; Carbohydrate 16g; Fat 6g; Fibre 6.

Mix all the veggies together in a large bowl and drizzle with coconut oil.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper before placing the pan in the oven.

After 20 minutes, remove from oven, stir vegetables, and then replace in oven for another 20 minutes before sprinkling with parmesan cheese and baking a final 20 minutes.

Serve hot from the oven, or allow to cool and store in fridge till ready to serve.  Reheat in microwave or eat cold… great either way!

Mmmmmmm!

Printable Recipe

What is  your favorite way to eat cauliflower?

Spicy Kabocha Tomato Soup

Friends that know me won’t be surprised that my first recipe of the New Year is a homemade soup… this time it’s Spicy Kabocha Tomato Soup… On these cool, wet, and dreary days we can have during the Winter on the West Coast, I often eat soup at noon and for snacks and at dinner. 

I love the comfort and warmth that spooning into a thick and tasty homemade soup brings.  This one fills that need quite nicely.  It’s simple and you likely have the ingredients on hand. It is vegan, but if you want, you could make it paleo by using a bit of turkey or beef broth in place of the water.

I am sure that a butternut squash or an ambercup squash would sub quite nicely for the kabocha that I used. They are about the same texture.  Even a sweet potato would work, but of course that raises the calorie count and therefore the Weight Watchers P+ values considerably. You decide.  The squash I used yielded almost 3 cups of cooked flesh.

You could prepare the squash a  day or so ahead of making the soup and keep it in the fridge if you like.  Then just put it all together in about an hour when you want to make soup.  Mmmmmm.  I know you are gonna love this as much as I do.

Spicy Kabocha Tomato Soup
Makes 6 one-cup servings.

• 1 medium size kabocha squash
• 1 – 28 ounce can diced tomatoes (946 ml)
• 1 cup water
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
• 2 Tbs curry powder
• 1 cup sliced white onion
• coconut oil or spray to coat soup pot
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash the kabocha squash. Then cut in in half horizontally and remove the seeds. Bake it in the oven, cut sides up for 45 minutes at 350°F.  Allow to cool about half an hour and then remove the peel and cut the flesh into large chunks.
2. Coat the inside of your soup pot with coconut oil, about 1 tsp, or use a spray.
3. Place the onions and garlic into the soup pot over MEDIUM heat and cook about 10 minutes till translucent. Do not allow them to brown.
4. Add the squash chunks and contents from the can of tomatoes along with 1 cup of water and up to 2 Tbs of curry powder and stir altogther.
5. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower heat, cover and allow to simmer for 45 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and allow to cool about 15 minutes. Blend in batches or with your immersion blender.  It will be very thick.
7. Serve with salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with yogurt or sour cream if desired.

Per serving without garnish.
Weight Watchers P+ = 0. *
Calories ; Protein 2g; Carbohydrate 17g; Fat 1g; Fibre 3g.

* The only item that actually needs to be counted here is the coconut oil and 1 tsp divided amongst 6 servings is negligible.  The vegetables are zero P+.

Printable Recipe

Curried Kabocha, Carrot, and Cauliflower Soup

My latest Fall soup is thick and delicious!  I was going to use a butternut squash in this recipe, but when I cut the squash open, it was brown inside and I threw it out immediately… so The Captain spent a few uncomfortable minutes peeling the shell from a kabocha squash so I could use it instead.  The result… Curried Kabocha, Carrot, and Cauliflower Soup.  Lovely.

Normally if I were going to use kabocha squash in soup, I would bake it first so that it can be easily scooped from its shell.  But there was no time to do that and it all turned out very nicely… but it is a difficult beast to peel raw so if you have time, do cook yours first. 

There is just a hint of curry in this soup. I think it is just right, but if you like more, by all means… go ahead and add it.  I also like to add a dollop of fat free Greek yogurt when I serve it… makes it creamy and just Heavenly.

You can use any kind of broth you prefer... I used my homemade turkey broth, but you could also use chicken stock or a vegetable broth if you want a vegan or vegetarian version.  I don't think it would change the taste much at all.

Curried Kabocha, Carrot, and Cauliflower Soup
Makes 8 one-cup servings

• 2 tsp coconut oil
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
• 1 cup white onion, cut into large dice
• 3 cups stock of choice
• 1 cup water
• 5 cups kabocha squash, peel removed and cut into chunks
• 2 cups carrots, cut into 1” lengths
• 1 cup cauliflower, cut into chunks
• 2 Tbs curry powder, more or less to taste
• Salt and pepper to season 

1. Melt coconut oil in large stockpot over MEDIUM heat. 
2. Add onions and garlic and cook about 5 minutes, till translucent, taking care not to brown.
3. Add the squash, carrots, and cauliflower and cook about 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the curry powder and stir to coat veggies.
5. Add the stock and the water.
6. Cover the pot with a lid, bring to boil, then reduce heat to SIMMER and cook for 45 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and cool several minutes.
8. Blend/purree till smooth.
9. Serve hot with salt and pepper to season.

Per serving.
Weight Watchers P+ = 2.
Calories 61;  Protein 2g; Carbohydrate 11g; Fat 2g; Fibre 3g.

If you are following the Weight Watchers Simply Filling Techniquer or Simple Start, there is nothing to count… the coconut oil would only be 1/4 tsp per serving, therefore negligible.

Bring veggies and stock to the boiling poing, then cover, and let simmer for about 45 minutes.

Purre in stockpot with immersion blender for minimal cleanup.

To serve, season with salt and pepper, and garnish with Greek yogurt if you like.

Stir it in for maximum creaminess!

You can freeze the leftovers or store in the fridge if you will use them in a few days… just as tasty after reheating on the stove top!

Printable Recipe

5 Fabulous Fall Soups

There is a lovely aroma in our apartment right now… a new Fall soup on the stove… this one with kabocha squash, carrots, and cauliflower… and onions and garlic, of course! I love to make soup when the days become a bit shorter, and a bit cooler, and the local farmers are flooding our produce markets with sweet potatoes, root veggies,  and all kinds of squash.  Mmmmm.

I have a usual method that I use to make vegetable soups… and the variations are endless depending upon the veggies and spices and broth you select. You can make them gluten-free, paleo vegetarian, and even vegan if you choose the right ingredients.  They are are all delcious.

You really can’t go wrong.

I will share this new soup later, but today I want to share some other favorite Fall soups from the last couple of years.

In no particular order… just click the picture to find the recipe.

Of course there are lots more on my blog and you can find them under my Soups, Salads and Dressings  tab… If you give any of my soups a try or Pin them, I would  love to know!

And if you are looking for some other ideas for homemade soups, check out these articles too:

• How to Roast Red Bell Peppers
• How to Make Homemade Turkey (or Chicken) Broth
• How to Make Your Own Vegetable Broth

Do you like to make Fall soups, too?  What’s your favorite?

Roasted Red Pepper and Carrot Soup

Oh how I love Fall!  Even though our weather continues to be unseasonably warm and dry on the Island, local farmers are flooding the markets with fresh produce and the prices are very appealing!  Red peppers, squashes, potatoes, carrots, corn… all of the lovely and delicious foods that the word harvest brings to mind.  This Roasted Red Pepper and Carrot soup is a direct result.

I love the process of roasting red peppers… washing and drying them, and putting them on a baking sheet under the broiler element of the oven… turning them every few minutes until they are completely charred.  And then leaving them in paper bags to cool and I even like the slippery mess of removing the skins and seeds.  I wrote a post about it a couple of years ago (and a great recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Soup, too) if you are interested.

I actually prepared the peppers for this soup and left them in the fridge for a couple of days before I got around to making it.  It was all I could do to keep from using them up in omelettes and on salads and in sandwiches!  But I knew that they would mix so well with the carrots that I managed to refrain.

I didn’t add any spices or herbs to the veggies as they were cooking… I wanted the flavor of the roasted red peppers and the carrots to shine through…. and they do, very nicely, I think.
And this dish is chock full of Vitamins A and C, if that matters to you!

I used homemade turkey broth and followed my usual soup method to make up this batch of Roasted Red Pepper and Carrot Soup. You could use purchased chicken stock, or even a vegetable broth if you would like to make it vegan. Use olive oil instead of coconut oil if you prefer.  It is easy and so tasty!   I hope you’ll give it a try.

Roasted Red Pepper and Carrot Soup
Makes 7 servings, approx. 1 cup each

• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
• 3 ounces onion, chopped (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup)
• 20 ounces carrots (about 5 large, cleaned and cut into 2 inch lengths)
• 3 cups stock of choice
• 3 red bell peppers, roasted with skin and seeds removed
• Salt and pepper to season

1. Put coconut oil in large stock or soup pot on MEDIUM heat.
2. Add the garlic and onions and saute till translucent and soft, taking care not to brown them.
3. Add the carrot chunks and let cook about 5  minutes.
4. Add the stock, cover the pot with a lid, and turn up heat till the stock comes to a boil. Turn heat down to LOW and allow to simmer 45 minutes.
5. Add the roasted red peppers and any liquid from them to the pot, and heat through.
6. Remove the pot from heat and allow to cool 10 or 15 minutes.
7. Puree the soup with immersion blender till smooth.
8. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Serve warm with cream or yogurt to garnish, if desired.

Per serving.
Weight Watchers P+ = 2.
Calories 67; Protein 3g; Carbohydrate 13g; Fat 1g; Fibre 4g;

Just look how thick this is!

Printable Recipe

What is your favorite thing about the coming of Fall?

Won't you consider sharing this recipe if you like it?  Thanks so much.

Starring Cauliflower!

Looking back over some of my favorite recipes of this past year, as well as some of the most popular posts, it would appear that cauliflower is one of the star ingredients of 2013.

And I am sure it’s true!  As I type this post, I have been getting up every 10 minutes to tend to the huge batch of Cauliflower Tortillas I am baking this morning, and I am going to be eating Cauliflower and Roasted Red Pepper Soup for lunch later today.  It seems barely a day or 2 goes by without my creating some new dish, or reprising an old favorite… and they often seem to have cauliflower in the ingredients list.

Why do I eat so much cauliflower?

It is such a versatile and nutritious vegetable. It can be enjoyed raw in salads or as a crudite with a dip; it is a lovely veggie to include in stews and casseroles with a wide array of spices; it can be chopped in a food processor to various degrees of puree and used in place of rice, or as a base for pizzas, or as the main stay in tortillas; it can be cooked and mashed like a potato or it can be baked and enjoyed like popcorn.  And not to mention that as a Weight Watcher, cauliflower is considered a zero P+ veggie.

It does have a definite fragrance, aroma, okay… smell… when it is cooking.  But don’t let that fool you. The taste is actually quite delicate and really disappears among other, stronger flavors and spices.  If you think you don’t like cauliflower, I would urge you to give it another chance.

Here is my version of a new Cauliflower Pizza Crust that I found at Gigi Eats Celebrities a short while ago… I am sure it would be delicious the way Gigi posted it too…. and if you scroll on down, you will find links to some of my favorite cauliflower recipes of the year.  Good eats!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust with Chia and Nooch
Makes 1 pizza crust

• 2 cups cauliflower, purreed till quite fine
• 2 large fresh eggs
• 1 Tbs chia seeds
• 1 Tbs mixed Italian style herbs
• 1 Tbs nutritional yeast
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced

1. Preheat your oven to 375° F.
2. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and then spread in a circle (or shape of your choice) on the parchment paper, to about 1/2 inch thick.
4. Bake for 20 minutes then remove from oven.
5. Cover with your favorite pizza toppings such as tomato sauce or paste, herbs, onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, ham, artichoke hearts, and the like. 
6. Return to oven and bake for 10 more minutes.
7. Remove to plate and serve.

For the whole crust only.
Weight Watcher P+ = 9.
Calories 279; Protein 25g; Carbohydrate 21g; Fat 20g, Fibre 12g.

Mix everything together in a large bowl.

Spread out to about 1/2 thick on baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper.

Bake for 20 minutes then top with your favorite goodies and pop it back into the oven for 10 more minutes.

Remove from oven and serve.

Printable Recipe

Here are some of my other favorites from the past year…

Cauliflower and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Grain Free and Low Carb Tortillas

I make these a lot and always have several in the freezer, ready to eat.  They can be left on the counter or thawed in the mike.

Cauliflower Rice

Another real favorite in my kitchen. I only eat rice now if I am having sushi, so some version of this Cauliflower Rice has become a staple.  It can be done so many different ways.

Cauliflower Coconut Soup

with 4 different spice options

Easy Curried Vegetables

Are you a cauliflower fan too?

Would love it if you would leave a link to your favorite cauliflower recipe here in the comments.