Tasty Tuesday

It's time for another fun Tasty Tuesday, originally created by Alicia at but now the new host is Alissa over at 33 Shades of Green.

For this week's cuisine, I decided to make Creamy Cauliflower Mac. I found the recipe in my latest Runners Magazine and thought it sounded good and pretty healthy too. It's another genius concoction from renown food writer, Mark Bittman. "Instead of using high-fat butter and cream, Bittman makes his healthier mac and cheese with pureed cauliflower, chicken stock, and a moderate amount of cheese."

Here's the recipe:

2 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 large cauliflower, cored and cut into pieces
8 ounces whole-wheat elbow macaroni
1/2 cup grated cheese (such as sharp cheddar, Gruyere, or Emmental, or a combination)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup whole-grain bread crumbs
salt and pepper


Heat oven to 400F. Boil a pot of salted water. In a saucepan, warm stock and bay leaves on medium-low heat for five minutes; turn off heat. Cook cauliflower in boiling water for 25 minutes. Put cauliflower in food processor or blender. Cook pasta in boiling water for five minutes. Drain and rinse to cool; put pasta in a greased, nine-inch square baking dish. Process cauliflower with stock (discard bay leaves), cheese, oil, mustard, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, working in batches. Pour sauce over pasta, toss, and spread evenly in dish. Top with Parmesan and bread crumbs. Bake 20 minutes. Serves four.

Calories Per Serving: 420 Carbs: 57G Protein: 20G Fat: 15G

Here it is!


While it turned out pretty good, I still will always prefer the traditional mac and cheese. This just wasn't exactly creamy enough for me... Wonder what I could have added to get that consistency? I also think that I might have had too much noodles and not enough of the cauliflower cheese sauce.