To those who haven't decided what to prepare for Christmas Eve, here's my suggestion: make sinful foods a little healthy!
If you're like me who's a lover of creamy cheesy stuff, and has an inkling that special occasions should be white and cheesy, this is a good entry in your holiday menu! Instead of regular creamy sauces, mix in some roasted, baked or stir-fried cauliflower in them!
This dish can be a pasta sauce or pasta topping (instead of regular cheese) or pizza topping or appetizer or even a filling for your bread!
My husband, on the other hand, brought it for lunch as a side dish and ate it as it is. Next time I get free organic cauliflower from his co-worker again, I will make some for bento version of this in paper muffin cups, then freeze it for those days I cannot prepare his bento. Now I'm hoping his co-worker will shower us with cauliflower! I rarely see cauliflower in the supermarket here and if ever I do, it's very expensive. Usually about ￥258 per head. *sobs*
Ingredients
cauliflower
olive oil
cheese
white sauce (butter, flour, milk, salt, black pepper, mushroom powder, Italian seasoning)
Procedure 1. Stir fry cauliflower in olive oil and season with salt, black pepper and Italian seasoning. OR in a bowl, mix in the cauliflower, olive oil, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper then roast or bake them until lightly browned. 2. Make the white sauce by melting butter in a pan and mixing in flour little by little, then milk little by little. Season with salt, black pepper, mushroom powder and Italian seasoning. 3. Put the cauliflower in a baking dish. Pour in white sauce and top with grated cheese. Bake or toast in the oven until the cheese pops or burns a little. 4. Serve as an appetizer or a topping for your pizza or pasta or as a pasta sauce!
Tips and tricks It would be wonderful if you have black olives and button mushrooms to mix in too.
If you're in a kitchen rush, you may omit the white sauce and just skip to the cheese part and it will surely still be delicious, I swear!
Have a warm and merry Christmas, everyone! *hugs*