DIY Wednesday: Cauliflower Pizza Crust

May 11, 2016May 10, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 6 Comments

DIY Wednesday: Cauliflower Crust Pizza | Life Healthfully Lived The cauliflower pizza crust. For many, it is an elusive dream. You see recipes on Pinterest and they claim that it is the best crust ever (just like real pizza) and that will fulfill all your gluten-free pizza dreams.

And then you make it.

And it turns into a soggy wet pile.

Or it has five pounds of cheese and eggs holding it together.

I’ve tried a lot of cauliflower pizza crusts and while some were good, none were great. Most of them had to be eaten with a fork and a knife and that’s ok if you’re eating a deep dish pizza but not ok when you want to pick up a slice and feel like you’re eating pizza. That’s what I wanted.

Then I stumbled across Sprint 2 The Table’s quinoa flour crust pizza and it sounded simple enough and didn’t have the cheese that most crust recipes use to keep everything together. So I gave it a shot and EUREKA! It worked. I could actually pick it up and while I won’t go as far as saying it tastes exactly like real pizza it was the closest I had ever come.

I kept playing with the crust and swapping out a few things and came up with one that doesn’t use eggs or grains as the flour. If you’re totally fine with eating quinoa flour and eggs then go ahead and try Sprint 2 The Table’s pizza crust. If you want an eggless and grain-free version try this one below.

I’ll give you a step-by-step tutorial (along with pictures) so you can get the best pizza crust possible then you can go crazy with toppings. And I may have gone crazy with my toppings aka the whole refrigerator on my pizza.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza- Based on this one by Sprint 2 The Table

1 cup of cauliflower with as much of the stems removed as possible
1/4 cup coconut flour
3 tbsp ground flaxseed
6 tbsp water
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 425 and get out a pizza stone/pan or regular baking sheet. Line whatever you’re going to use with parchment paper (I used a pizza stone and cut my parchment paper into circles) and then cut another piece of parchment paper to match the first.
In a small bowl, combine the ground flaxseed and water and let it sit and gel for a few minutes.
In a blender or food processor, pulse the cauliflower a few times until it’s in small rice-like pieces and then dump it into a large bowl. Add the flour and seasonings and whisk to combine everything. It’s ok if it’s a little clumpy.
Add in the flaxseed and water mixture and start stirring everything together with a spatula. It should start to form a big dough ball. If it’s too dry, add a little water a tablespoon at a time. Remember that coconut flour likes to soak up water like a sponge so as you add water wait just a few minutes to see if it needs more.
Nice dough ball. Not too dry or too soggy.
Once you have your dough ball place it on your stone or pan that’s lined with parchment paper. Slightly flatten the dough with your hand and then using a rubber spatula start pressing the dough out into a pizza shape.
Spreading out the dough. It takes awhile so don’t rush it
Work from the middle pressing out and keep going until you have about a 10 to 12-inch circle. You want it to be fairly thin so the crust will cook all the way through and not end up soggy. As you press the dough out the edges might crack a little but that’s ok just press them back together.
About how thick you want your crust. You could even go a little thinner for a crispier crust.
Place the other piece of parchment paper on top of the crust and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven.
Ok, this is the slightly tricky part. You’re going to flip the whole crust over. What worked for me was putting on an oven mitt and then using the parchment paper to slide the middle part of the crust onto my hand and then flipping it over in a quick motion. The crust should be mostly cooked at this point and if you rolled it out thin enough won’t break apart on you. Don’t freak out, I’ve made this crust a dozen times and even if I totally botched the flip it hasn’t broken or ruined the crust.
Once it’s flipped remove the parchment paper from the top of the crust and top with your favorite pizza toppings! Bake for another 5 minutes and enjoy!
Ready for toppings!

A few other tips:

Don’t use a crazy amount of sauce because that is just going to turn the pizza to mush. Trust me. My favorite sauce so far has been a light layer of my spinach or cilantro pesto.
If you put on a lot of heavy toppings your pizza may fall a little bit as you pick it up. If you don’t care and want all of the toppings go for it!
You can make this crust in advance and keep it in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to use it. I’ve only done it a few hours in advance so I can’t vouch for the quality after it’s been frozen and thawed but I will update this if I try it.
If you put onions or peppers on your pizza and you want them cooked a little more than the five minutes at the end, saute them before you top your pizza. If not, they might be a little less done than some would prefer.

Zucchini and Pea Cauliflower Risotto

May 6, 2016May 5, 2016 / ktbuchs87

Zucchini and Pea Cauliflower Risotto | Life Healthfully Lived Yup. Cauliflower is back. I know you’re probably getting a little tired of seeing it featured in my dishes but you know what? You’re wrong. Cauliflower is the magical unicorn of the vegetable world and I love turning it into all sorts of things from taquitos to sauce to sweet and sour bites to mac n’ cheese. It’s awesome and you’re going to have to deal with it.

Which should be easy if you’re stuffing your face with this tasty meal. Most people tend to shy away from risotto because it takes a really long time to cook and even if you follow all the steps it somehow still tastes like you didn’t do something right. Or is it just me chomping away and still uncooked rice? Just me? Ok. Zucchini and Pea Cauliflower Risotto | Life Healthfully Lived

Moving on. If you think risotto is too fussy or you’ve never made it before then you need to try this cauliflower risotto because it is the exact opposite of fussy. It doesn’t take long to make and you don’t have to stand over the stove stirring until your arm falls off like with regular risotto. Again, just me? This risotto is still creamy and rich like regular risotto but it’s also nice and light with all the fresh spring-y vegetables.

One other note about this meal, I really think that what gave this dish the depth of flavor I was going for was the Sherry I used to deglaze the pan. I know some people don’t like to use alcohol in their cooking (to each their own) and you can use water or broth instead but I don’t think it will have the same taste. Other than that, this risotto is straight forward and will have you licking your plate clean. Still just me?

Zucchini and Pea Cauliflower Risotto

1 large head of cauliflower, riced (you can grate it for bigger pieces which I did or run it through your food processor for smaller pieces)
2 medium zucchini’s, sliced into half moons
1 cup peas, if frozen make sure they’re thawed
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup onions, diced
2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast or parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sherry (I used this one) or other dry white wine or water/broth
1/2 cup water/broth
1/2-2/3 cup full-fat coconut milk
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds (or pine nuts if you can shell out the small fortune a 1 oz bag costs)
zest from one lemon
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onions until they’re soft then add in the garlic. Season this with a little salt and pepper and cook for about 2 minutes.
Add in the riced cauliflower, adding a little more oil if needed, and season again with salt and pepper. Cook for another five minutes until cauliflower is soft and just starting to get a little brown. Sprinkle the nutritional yeast or parmesan cheese over top.
Pour in the 1/4 cup sherry and deglaze the pan. Cook and stir everything until most of the liquid as evaporated. Add the zucchini and peas and pour in the water/broth and coconut milk. Stir everything together and cook until the liquid has reduced by about half.
Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest and parsley. Top with the toasted almonds and taste to adjust the salt and pepper.

DIY Wednesday: Cauliflower Stem Cream Sauce

March 23, 2016March 21, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

Ok, so if you read my post on Monday then you know that last week I was fighting off a stomach bug/virus. It really knocked me on my butt and I’m still trying to get back to completely normal. Because I couldn’t eat anything more than baby carrots and brown rice cakes (totally weird combo I know, but it’s the only thing that didn’t make me want to run to the bathroom) I ended up with a lot of vegetables that were just about to go bad.

Instead of throw them away, because I hate wasting food, I decided to come up with new interesting ways to use them. One of my biggest missions is to reduce the amount of food waste we create each year. There are so many things that we can do with food rather than throw it away but sometimes you have to get creative. If you want a few other ways to cut down on food waste, you can check out this post. DIY Wednesday: Cauliflower Steam Cream Sauce | Life Healthfully Lived

So today we have a recipe that uses a part of the vegetable that most of us throw away, cauliflower stems. Yup, you can eat the stem but because gnawing on a big old stem doesn’t sound too appealing, we’re going to make a creamy sauce that can go on pasta, vegetables, meat, or even used as dressing. The best part is it only requires a few ingredients and minimal effort.

Stop throwing away food that you think you can’t eat because I bet you can use it in a unique and delicious way!

Cauliflower Stem Cream Sauce

1 1/2 cauliflower stems, cut into chunks
1 tsp roasted garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 to 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (or 1/4 cup parmesan cheese if you do dairy)
1/2 to 1 cup reserved steaming water

Save the large main cauliflower stem from your bunch along with any other trimmed pieces you aren’t using with the cauliflower florets. Trim off the green leaves and the tough woody bottom of the large stem and then cut everything into bites size chunks.
Fill a medium pot with about 2 cups water and set up a steamer basket if you have one. If not, you can just boil the cauliflower right in the pot. Steam the cauliflower until very soft and easily pierced with a fork.
Transfer the cauliflower to a blender or food processor and save the steaming water. Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and blend until you have a thick paste. Add the reserved water a few tablespoons at a time until you reach the consistency you would like. Thinner for things like dressing and pasta sauce, a little thicker for meat and vegetables.

Slow Cooker Cauliflower Pesto Mac N’ Cheese

March 11, 2016March 10, 2016 / ktbuchs87

I’m having a bit of a thing with cauliflower right now. I buy at least three big heads of it per week and have been experimenting putting it into different dishes. I pretty much look at any recipe and wonder, “Could I do this with cauliflower instead?” Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s kind of how life goes right?

Look, life lessons while making yummy food. Can’t get any better than that. Slow Cooker Cauliflower Pesto Mac N' Cheese | Life Healthfully Lived

Last week I had delicious taquitos (which you should definitely make immediately… after today’s recipe) that had a cauliflower filling and this week I’m doing a little bit of a twist on macaroni and cheese. Spoiler alert: there is no macaroni. Or cheese. There is, however, cauliflower, a delicious cheese-esque sauce, and a slow cooker.

Now, before you Mac N’ Cheese purists come at me with pitchforks and torches this recipe isn’t meant to taste exactly like Mc N’ Cheese it just uses a similar process. And if we’re on the subject of tasting like Mac N’ Cheese, apparently Kraft rolled out it’s new less artificial Mac N’ Cheese and told NO ONE and there were literally no complaints about it. So if we want to get technical, no one really knows what Mac N’ Cheese tastes like so who’s to say my version isn’t right?

Ok, that took a weird little turn but back to this recipe. I love the pesto-cheesy sauce on this and I like that I made it in my slow-cooker so there was minimal effort. You could easily prepare the sauce stuff before hand and then throw everything together in the slow cooker when it’s time to make dinner. It all tastes rich, creamy, and decadent yet you’re still getting a lot of nutrients and a big dose of vegetables. Talk about a win!

Cauliflower Pesto Mac N’ Cheese

1 large head of cauliflower, about 5 to 6 cups, cut into florets
1 batch of No Mozzarella Mozzarella
1 batch of Spinach Pesto
3/4 cup of full-fat coconut milk or any other non-dairy milk you like
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 to 1 tsp smoked paprika

Cut up your cauliflower and set aside. Make the No Mozzarella Mozzarella and the Spinach Pesto. You can do this the night before if you want or right before.
Lightly oil your slow cooker with a little olive oil and place cauliflower florets into your slow cooker. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk together the mozzarella and pesto. It will be really thick but don’t worry.
Add the coconut milk slowly and keep whisking until you have a smooth and pourable sauce. You might not use all the milk and you might need a little more just adjust until you have the right consistency.
Pour the pesto sauce over the cauliflower, making sure to coat everything. Sprinkle the top with smoked paprika, cover, and cook on high for 3 hours or a little longer if you want super soft cauliflower.

Serve up and enjoy the goodness! Slow Cooker Cauliflower Pesto Mac N' Cheese | Life Healthfully Lived

Buffalo Cauliflower Taquitos

March 4, 2016March 4, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

Buffalo Cauliflower Taquitos | Life Healthfully Lived Fun fact: I’ve never had taquitos. Ok, that isn’t really a fun fact but it is a fact. I’ve never had fresh taquitos, I’ve never had them from the frozen food section, and I’ve never thought, “Man, I could really go for a nice taquito right now.” Then as I was roaming around the internet I saw a few recipes for taquitos and they looked really good and simple to make.

And they are good and simple to make. Really good. Like so good I seriously thought about eating leftover taquitos for breakfast the next day. And if the taquitos were delicious, the dip I used was heaven. I could have stuck a straw in it and had that alone. Not even exaggerating. Buffalo Cauliflower Taquitos | Life Healthfully Lived

You busy people out there are going to like these too because you can make a big batch and then freeze them. Now you have a quick dinner ready to go on a busy night. Just take them out of the freezer and heat them up in the oven. Boom! Healthy dinner.

If you have time, you can make the filling beforehand and then when you’re ready to make the taquitos all you have to do is fill, roll, and bake. That sounds like a new dance craze that all the younguns will be into next week. Just remember, I started it here first.

Buffalo Cauliflower Taquitos

1 large head of cauliflower
1/4 cup of my buffalo sauce or your favorite brand
1 cup butternut squash puree, you can also use sweet potato or canned pumpkin
1 package of small tortillas, I used corn but you can use flour shells or a paleo version
1 batch of my dairy-free ranch with a few changes, recipe below
optional: guacamole, salsa, regular ranch or bleu cheese dressing

Preheat the oven to 325. Remove the leaves from the cauliflower and cut into florets removing as much of the stem from each floret as possible.
Place the cut cauliflower into a food processor or blender and pulse a few times until the cauliflower looks like rice. Scoop it out and place it into a bowl
Add the butternut squash to the cauliflower rice and stir so everything is coated. Heat a little (like about 1 tsp) olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Put the cauliflower into the skillet and saute for about 10 minutes. Add the 1/4 cup of buffalo sauce and stir to combine everything. You can add a little more buffalo sauce if the cauliflower doesn’t look like it’s coated enough.
Cook this for another five minutes and then turn the heat to low and cover the skillet. Let this sit for 5 minutes and then move to a large bowl.
Put a little skillet (about the size of your tortilla shells) over low heat. Don’t add any oil, you’re just using this to heat up the tortilla shells so the roll easily.
Heat the shells about 15 to 20 seconds on each side then add a large spoonful of filling and roll the tortilla up. Place it seam side down on a large baking sheet. Do this until you’ve used up all the filling.
Bake for 20 minutes, checking towards the end to make sure the tortilla edges aren’t burning. Remove from the oven and let cool then serve with fancy ranch (that’s what I’m calling it), salsa, and guacamole!

Fancy Ranch

1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
1/4 cup cashews, soaked overnight or in boiling water for 15 minutes
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp roasted garlic
2 tsp ranch seasoning
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin

Blend everything together and taste to see if you need to add salt or pepper. This will thicken up even more in the fridge so don’t worry if it’s a little soupy.