living karma: magic cauliflower

Today I made more "cauli-flour" flatbread (aka pizza crust). I made it in bulk this time - two large heads - because it is labor intensive. My daughter had one as a pizza for lunch and I had one for dinner as I baked more almond flour muffins.

Cauliflower really is amazing - a vegetable that acts like a starch and is so good for you at the same time. And it doesn't feel like a ton of bricks in your stomach like a regular pizza might.

For me, while I have said many times that I long for the day when I can go out and have pizza without paying the price afterwards... well, I'm not sure that something that makes me feel congested, clogged, bloated, sluggish and even grumpy the next day is really that good for me.

Still, I love bread and cheese together, and I'm not ready to let go of the taste and texture in my mouth of things that offer the same experience. So cauli-flour bread and almond flour muffins it is.

Since I learned after I made my last cauliflower crust that soft goat cheese is high in lactose and not on the okay list for the way I am eating right now to heal my gut, today I used fine grated havarti cheese. My daughter said it tasted better this way, and texture-wise it worked just as well. I also added some pressed garlic, which was definitely a very good idea.

Here are the steps that go into making cauli-flour flatbread (recipe here):

chop white part of the cauliflower head into couscous-size pieces in a food processor

boil for 5 minutes, then strain

place about 1-2 cups' worth in a hand towel

wring the towel to strain out as much water as possible

at this point it has the texture of polenta... perfect for flatbread

put everything into a bowl and mix with beaten egg...

... and cheese

I used a full cup of cheese since my two large heads of cauliflower yielded 13 cups of unboiled/unstrained cauliflower - three times what the recipe called for. Out of the mix, I ended up with seven flatbreads, each about 8x8 inches.