Throwback Thursday - Cauliflower Madness!

Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well. I'm loving being back on the Crazy Sexy Diet cleanse again. I feel good and happy and most importantly.... I feel INSPIRED! Inspired to get back in the kitchen and cook and create recipes and I haven't felt inspired in a long time. It's a great feeling and I'm really happy that I decided to make this switch.

I am planning on updating you on my meals and such tomorrow but for today I decided to post the first installment of my "throwback" series. I have a bunch of recipes posted on my other blog that will go away when the domain name runs out and I don't like that so I decided that I'll bring them over here. I'm going to do it slowly so I don't bombard you all with a bunch of recipes over a few days. So for the next few weeks or months (however long it takes) I'm going to have Throwback Tuesday and Throwback Thursday posts where I bring over a recipe from the old blog. That way they'll still be around when I lose that domain.

I decided to start with two of my most popular recipes... my Cheesy Cauliflower Mash/Patties and Pasta with Cauliflower Cream Sauce.

I decided to take a stab and veganizing this recipe for Cheesy Cauliflower Pancakes.

Don’t they look delicious?! Let me tell you, the flavor packed into these little patties is incredible. I strayed from the original recipe just a bit but it came out amazing. They can be served as a mash as well and would probably be easier that way. Yum!

Cheesy Cauliflower Patties

Ingredients:

2 cups cauliflower, chopped into large florets

1/2 cup cheddar Daiya shreds (I used Mozzarella because it was all I could find and it tasted great too)

1 1/2 tbsp ground flax seeds (you can sub bread crumbs if you like)

salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

1 tsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Cook cauliflower in boiling water until tender. This should take 10-15 minutes.

2. Drain the cauliflower then mash while still warm. Stir in the rest of your ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings.

3. Spray a large pan with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat. Form the mixture into patties and add to pan. Cook until brown then flip and cook other side. Enjoy!

*Note – My patties did fall apart a little bit since there isn’t too much of a binder in there. They are very delicate so handle with care. I recommend making small patties that will flip easily with a spatula. If they fall apart they will be just as delicious! Or, you can just skip the whole patty process and just serve the mash as is. I’d recommend heating the mixture over a medium heat just to make sure the cheese has melted. Yum!

This recipe came to be because I still had some cauliflower mash left and decided to get crazy with it and turn it into a “cream” sauce for pasta! I used to love fettucini alfredo and thought this would be a fun, healthy version of it!

Check out this gorgeous bowl of creamy pasta! I used gluten free angel hair pasta but you can use whatever you like. I’m just an angel hair girl 

Pasta With Cauliflower “Cream” Sauce

Ingredients:

1 serving pasta of choice (with some cooking water reserved)

1/2 cup cheesy cauliflower mash (see above)

1/2 cup steamed spinach (and other veggies of choice)

salt, pepper, garlic to taste

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package. Drain and reserve some of the cooking liquid.

2. Heat cheesy cauliflower mash in a small saucepan. Thin sauce with pasta cooking liquid to desired consistency. I like mine thick and creamy. Add nutritional yeast and mix well.

3. Add veggies to sauce and add pasta last. Season with salt, pepper and garlic to taste.

This pasta is rich and creamy and decadent with absolutely none of the guilt! Definitely give this a try, I think you’ll like it!

So here is the first installment of my Throwback series! I hope you guys don't mind seeing these repeat recipes but I just wanted to get them here before they are gone... maybe it's my OCD haha. I'll be back tomorrow to show you some meals I've been eating on my cleanse. 

I hope you've all been having a great week! I'll see you tomorrow!!