Cauliflower Mash

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We spent lots of time outside catching some rays and enjoying the spring weather. I really love everything about this time of year, ok well maybe not the allergies, everything else though, love!

So I forgot to tell you that the hubby and I signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) of sorts. If you don’t know anything about CSAs you can find out more here. There is one in the DC area called From the Farmer. I was particularly excited about this one because its delivers! When we lived in Philadelphia we belonged to one where you had to go and pick up your share each week. Luckily the place was very close to my job so it wasn’t much of a hassle. DC has a bunch of CSAs but I would say few of them deliver right to your door. We get to wake up every Wednesday morning to a basket of fresh produce and fruit.

In this last basket we got some yummy veggies including kale, spinach, pasilla peppers and cauliflower! Can you believe they fit that all in that basket? Getting this basket makes me think about my childhood, well okay, almost everything makes me think of some aspect of my childhood. But in all seriousness, my parents had the most wonderful garden when we were kids. We had the perfect backyard with tons of space for playing and gardening. Something must have been wrong with us as kids because we actually looked forward to working in the garden. We all liked to take turns picking a new crop for the season. Some turned out really well and others (ahem watermelons) did not. Without fail there would be tons of strawberries and tomatoes. We grew mint like crazy and cucumbers and peppers. Everything was delicious! It must have been yummy because we would often find Dad chasing after the groundhog who was trying to get some goodies for himself.

What’s a garden without some friendly visitors?!?!

I’ll also never, NEVER, forget the time my dad threw a giant earthworm at me yelling “catch Sam!”. Um, that was TERRIFYING!

This week I wanted to make as much as I could with the wonderful fresh ingredients we got. So I reached out to my mother in-law who has this recipe for cauliflower mash. I actually never had cauliflower mash until we were visiting the hubby’s family out in California. I think Californians have this way of making our heavy east coast food into light versions of the real deal. Luckily this imposter is quite delicious. Just as a FYI, cauliflower might be the next big thing. It really can be made a million ways.

I could probably eat this instead of mashed potatoes forever. Sometimes potatoes can be so blah, thank goodness cauliflower entered my life. It is actually super easy to make so that is another plus! If you have an immersion blender it makes it all the easier. I LOVE my immersion blender!

Cauliflower Mash

Recipe Courtesy of: Debbie Hartzman

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
One Head of Cauliflower Cut into small Florets
1/2 Cup Low Sodium Chicken Stock
2 Garlic Cloves Sliced
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
1/4 Cup Low Fat Milk or Cream
1/4 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:
Place the cauliflower florets in pot with the chicken stock. Add your sliced garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Heat on medium heat until the cauliflower has softened. Drain any excess stock if you don’t want your mash to be too runny. Allow the cauliflower to cool slightly so that when you blend it you don’t get burned by any splatter. Once cooled use your immersion blender to mash up the cauliflower and garlic slices. Blend until you get the consistency you want. I don’t like any lumps so I try to blend it until its pretty smooth. Once blended place the pot back on the stove over low heat. Add your butter, milk and cheese. Allow everything to mix together. Taste and adjust seasonings as you desire, serve with anything that you would serve mashed potatoes with.