Cauliflower-Crust Pizza

adapted from sandyskitchenadventures.com

This recipe is amazing – it’s a new favorite of mine! My co-worker Cheryl Hoefler also gave it a try and liked it – judging from the picture, her pizza looks mouth-watering! I first heard about cauliflower-crust pizza about two years ago, and it didn’t appeal to me then, but I gave it a try a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. It doesn’t taste like cauliflower and the texture is great. Is it a New York-style crust? No, but if you’d like a healthier, low-carb, low-fat option, it’s a winner! By the way, I doubled the recipe and made four pizza crusts, one round and three rectangular.

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 C. grated raw cauliflower (about 1/2 a head of cauliflower)
1/4 C. egg whites, from two eggs, beaten slightly
1/2 C. reduced-fat shredded cheese
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. basil
Toppings:
1/4-1/2 C. reduced fat Mozzarella cheese
1/2 C. Italian diced tomatoes, canned
or use pizza sauce, if desired
Add other favorite toppings

Directions:
Measure out 1/2 C. diced tomatoes and puree in blender or chopper, just pulse for a few seconds. Set aside. Your favorite pizza sauce could be used in place of the diced tomatoes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spray lightly with cooking spray.
Combine grated cauliflower, egg whites, cheese, garlic powder and basil until mixed thoroughly. Spoon mixture on prepared pan to make two rectangular pizza crusts, or make two round pizza crusts, one at a time.
Make the pizzas on the small side so they bake through, about 5x8 inches for rectangular shapes and 9” for the round pizzas.
Use the back of a spoon to thin out mixture (or your hands) to make the shape, about a 1/4-inch thick or less – the thinner the crust, the less chance it will be soggy.
Bake for 25 minutes then carefully flip the pizza crust – use a spatula to lift all edges of the crust off the parchment first. Bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes until edges are really brown and crisp. Even if they are a little burnt around the edges, it won’t taste burnt. Allow crusts to cool.
Add tomato sauce and cheese on top. Broil until cheese is melted, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Pizza crusts can be made ahead of time, without toppings, cooled and stored in the freezer in gallon-sized Zip-Lock bags. Then bake as you would a normal store-bought pizza: top with sauce and toppings, then bake for about 10 minutes at 425 degrees or until cheese is melted.
The recipe can be doubled for 4-5 pizza crusts, then store extras in the freezer for later!
Angel’s Tip: The original recipe calls for reduced-fat three cheese Mexican blend – this was not available at the store I was shopping at but I found a similar taco blend gave a nice flavor to the crust. Cheryl used a mixture of Mozzarella, Swiss and cheddar for her crust, so be creative with what you have! ... If you get busy and let the mixture sit in the fridge for a few hours, you’ll notice liquid in the bottom of the mixing bowl. If this happens, drain as much liquid as possible and make the crusts.

Thanksgiving Dressing

Don't you love those people who make great food, but when you ask for the recipe, they can only tell you they threw in this and that with no measurements? That is the case here. I love the dressing my in-laws make, and after quizzing one of my sisters-in-law and looking at a couple sites online, I came up with this recipe. I tried it out, and will say it's easy and bursting with great flavor. I recommend adding the browned sausage - Yum! I used Jimmy Dean's sage sausage. This dish will be quick to do a disappearing act on Thanksgiving Day, so be sure to have plenty on hand to serve to the guests!
Ingredients:
2 loaves French bread, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 Tbsp. butter to grease pans
1-2 onion, chopped
5-8 stalks celery, sliced in 1/4-inch pieces
2 Tbsp. butter, to saute veggies
2 tsp. celery salt
1 Tbsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. dried sage
2 eggs, beaten
2 C. chicken broth (can use 2 bouillon cubes boiled with 2 C. water)
1/4 C. butter, melted
1 lb. ground sausage, browned (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two cookie sheets and set aside. Cut bread into small pieces, and place in a single layer on the baking sheets. Stir occasionally as it bakes until dried out – about 30 minutes. Allow the bread crumbs to cool and add to an extra-large bowl.
Preheat over to 350 degrees.
While the bread is in the oven, melt 1/4 C. butter in a skillet and saute onions and celery. Stir often, about 10 minutes. If you’d like to add it, brown the sausage at this point.
Add all ingredients to the bowl and stir until all ingredients are combined.
Grease a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pour the mixture in, covering tightly with tin foil.
Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes and serve immediately. Makes 15+ servings.
Angel's Tip: Add onion and celery according to taste - I like to add more.

Mini Mac-n-Cheese Cups

These Mini Mac-n-Cheese Cups are a fun presentation of a popular comfort food – one of my family’s favorites.
All of my boys enjoyed these, and they disappeared before I could blink – I'll consider a double batch next time! A new twist in this recipe, besides making them in a muffin tin, is adding chives and onion cream cheese. (My pickier eater didn’t mind the hint of onion flavoring at all.) I imagine these would also be fun to serve at a picnic or party as well.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 C. Ritz crackers, crushed
2 C. cheddar cheese, grated and divided
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
4 1/2 C. cooked elbow macaroni – still hot! (about 8 oz. uncooked)
1/2 C. chives and onion cream cheese
2 Tbsp. butter, cold
2 large eggs
1/2 C. milk
1/4 C. sour cream
1/4 tsp. salt
Pinch red pepper flakes, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Generously spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
While macaroni noodles boil, cooked according to package directions, combine the crushed crackers in a large bowl, 1 C. shredded cheese and the melted butter, mixing well until the crumbs hold together.
Divide the cracker crumb mixture among the muffin cups and firmly press the into the bottoms and up the sides of each muffin cup to make the crust. In another large bowl, combine the cooked macaroni – make sure it’s still hot – and 1/2 C. of the shredded cheddar, the cream cheese and the butter, mixing well.
In a small bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, sour cream, salt and red pepper flakes.
Add the egg/milk mixture to the cooked macaroni, and gently mix until all the ingredients are melted and smooth.
Place about 2-3 Tbsp. of the macaroni mixture into each muffin cup. Evenly top with cheese.
Any leftovers can be cooked in a separate dish alongside the muffin tin.
Bake the mac and cheese cups until lightly golden on top, about 20-25 minutes.
Let cool slightly before removing from the muffin pan. Serve immediately. Makes 12 mac-n-cheese cups.

Angel’s Tip: In the future, I may try this recipe baked in a 9x13 casserole dish with plain crushed crackers sprinkled on top in the last 10 minutes of baking.

Inspired by: The Curvy Carrot