When out and about a couple of weeks ago, we grabbed dinner out and loved our dinner! Everything was amazing! We all ordered different meals – in which we all tried a bite (or 2) of each others meals. I had bacon wrapped scallops, hubby had a HUGE pork chop, my sister in law had salmon and my brother in law had a T-bone with what we thought was mashed potatoes.
As I said, we all shared little bites of our plates because ‘sharing is caring’, right? But seriously, we couldn’t help but ask if someone wanted to taste this or that because it was not only a huge plate of food but we were all so intrigued with everyone else’s plate. It kind of helps you make decisions when ordering – you get this and I’ll get that …..then we’ll share! Am I alone in this? Or do you feel me??
SO! My brother in law has a scoop of what we thought was a mashed potato & ‘something’. As he “mmmmm’d” his way through the meal, he told us all to take a bite and give him our take on what it was. We couldn’t pin point it BUT knew that it had red bell pepper in the recipe. After asking the server, we learned it was cauliflower mash!! WHAT THE????
Guess what I do? I go home and try and recreate what I figured might be in the recipe. I can’t honestly say if it tasted exactly like the one in the restaurant but it surely is good! It definitely takes caulimash up a notch and is a great side to add dimension to a meal without a lot of fuss. I served it with roast here but this would be pretty amazing with any protein, especially if you’re making a simple chicken or fish.
In this recipe, I use a bag of cauliflower crumbles. It is so exciting to see that most grocery stores carry these crumbles now. Yes, it is easy to rice your own cauliflower and I do still do that from time to time but when I decided to make this recipe, I had a bag on hand from Thanksgiving – because when you’re making tons of sides for a Thanksgiving dinner, you will forgo the step of ricing your own cauliflower if you can! That said, feel free to rice your own or just grab a head of cauliflower and cut and steam to prepare for the mashing. Either way, it will work and taste delish!
Have at it! And as always, have fun with it. If you put you’re own twist on it, please let me know. I love and welcome suggestions!
- 16 oz crumbled cauliflower
- 1/3 cup finely diced red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup finely diced onion
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced (I like 2 cloves....but your call!)
- 1 tbsp ghee or brown butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- Steam cauliflower crumbles by adding a couple tablespoons of water to a pot & let it come to a simmer. Add cauliflower, put a lid on the pot and let it heat for about 2 -3 minutes. If there is still water in the pot, take lid off and let the water evaporate, leaving heat on low.* (If you still have water lingering with the cauliflower, strain or lay on paper towels to drain).
- In a pan, heat the ghee or brown butter and add the onions and red bell peppers. Stir and cook until onions are nearly translucent. Add garlic and mix thoroughly.
- Add cauliflower & veggies to a bowl and mash with potato masher. Mash until you reach your desired texture. Season with salt and pepper.**
- *If you prefer to saute to soften, add a tablespoon of ghee and heat, add cauliflower crumbles and allow to cook through for about 5-8 minutes.
- **Alternatively, you can blend the cauliflower mixture in a blender or food processor. I actually like that method when I want my cauliflower mash very creamy and without lumps, if you will but if you like a chunkier mash, using a potato masher is the way to go!
