It’s hard for me to believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner! I’m always looking for new side dishes to try out. This recipe for garlic mashed cauliflower is a great, low-carb substitute for traditional mashed potatoes. If you make the dish with a non-dairy margarine, such as Earth Balance or Smart Balance, then it’s the perfect side dish for vegans and vegetarians.
Cauliflower is all the rage these days for anyone following a low-carb, gluten-free or Keto diet. There are countless cauliflower recipes on the internet for cauliflower rice, cauliflower pizza crust and much, much more. A recent trip I took to the Gardens Green Market in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida showed, in addition to regular white cauliflower, there are also purple, yellow and green varieties of the cruciferous vegetable available for purchase.
When cooking the cauliflower to use in this side dish, you can either use a traditional metal vegetable steamer placed over a pan filled with water or use a bamboo steamer placed inside of a wok.
Great Vegan Side Dish
I’ve been trying to eat healthier during the past few years. I do a lot of swim-bike-run workouts but still have a tendency to eat too much. I’ve seen a few websites posting up mashed cauliflower recipes as a healthier alternative to mashed potatoes, so I decided to make my own version and post the recipe to The Creative Cottage blog. This vegetarian recipe makes a wonderful side dish to serve at your next dinner or holiday meal celebration.
Mashed potatoes are very high in carbohydrates and most versions are loaded with tons of milk, cream, butter and even sour cream. Mashed cauliflower, as prepared in this recipe, offers a lower carbohydrate, lower fat and lower calorie side dish makes a great substitute for traditional mashed potatoes. I like to finish the mashed cauliflower with garlic with a bit of chopped, fresh chives or green onion tops – delicious!
Mashed Cauliflower Toppings
If you aren’t following a strictly vegan diet, you can add approximately 1/4 cup of any of these suggestions to your mashed cauliflower for some unique flavor variations. Unfortunately these additions also add a bit of fat and calories back into the recipe but they sure are tasty!
- Crumbled goat cheese
- Crumbled feta cheese
- Regular or low fat sour cream
- French’s fried onions – taste great sprinkled on top of mashed cauliflower
Mashed Cauliflower Recipe with Roasted Garlic
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 – 2 tablespoons vegan margarine
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 – 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
Instructions
- Cut the core out of the base of the cauliflower and remove any blemished spots.
- Cut the cauliflower into smaller pieces.
- Placed the cut up cauliflower into a vegetable steamer basket and place it in a pot filled with water.
- Bring the water to a boil, turn the heat down to medium and place the lid on the pot.
- Steam the cauliflower for 15 to 25 minutes or until it is tender and you are easily able to put a fork in it.
- While the cauliflower is steaming, add the vegetable broth, margarine, thyme, garlic, garlic powder, salt and pepper to a large pan placed over low heat.
- Carefully placed the steamed cauliflower in a large bowl and use a potato masher to finely mash the cauliflower.
- Continue to mash the cauliflower adding enough of the vegetable broth mixture until it is is smooth and creamy. The trick is to only add a bit of broth at a time – you don’t want to end up with soupy/watery mashed cauliflower.
- Note: mashed cauliflower won’t be quite as smooth as mashed potatoes.
- Sprinkle the chopped chives on top of the mashed cauliflower.
- If desired, place the mashed cauliflower into a decorative serving bowl and serve as part of your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner celebration.
Notes
Let me know if you decide to make this recipe for garlic mashed cauliflower. If you have any recipe ideas that you’d like to share with The Creative Cottage, reach out to me and I just might feature your culinary creations in a future article! Leave a comment on this post or shoot me an email: info@thecreativecottage.net if you’d like to talk about possible guest blogging opportunities.
Take care,
Lynn Smythe
Founder and Chief Blogger
The Creative Cottage
Sloth Athletica
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