Smashing Cauliflower

Menu Notes:
Serve in place of mashed potatoes or rice.

The Ingredients (for two people):

• 1 small cauliflower
• 1 garlic bulb, entire
• 2.5 cc (or ½ tsp) of salt 
• 90 ml (or 6 Tbsp) of salad grade olive oil

The Method:

1. Heat a traditional oven or a toaster oven to 175°C (or 350°F).
2. Cut the top cleanly off the garlic bulb so that the taller cloves are exposed.
3. Tear a square of aluminum foil that will comfortably wrap around the garlic.
4. Place the garlic in the center and spray or drizzle cooking grade olive oil over the bulb and the surrounding foil.
5. Close the foil loosely around the garlic bulb and crimp the edges to seal.
6. Place the garlic into the oven and roast it for 1 hour.
7. When it has cooled sufficiently to be handled, pull the cloves apart and squish them with the blade of a knife to extract the roasted garlic. Throw the skins away.
8. Bring water to a boil in the bottom section of a steamer.
9. Wash and separate the cauliflower into medium-size florets.
10. Place the florets in the top of the steamer and steam them for 10 minutes.
11. Place the cooked cauliflower, squished garlic, salt, and olive oil into a food processor or blender and blend until it is the consistency of mashed potato.
    (Alternatively, for a different consistency—which also tastes different—use a potato ricer to mash the ingredients together.)

The Story:

It was difficult for us to adjust to a low carbohydrate diet after decades of rice, bread, potatoes, noodles, and of course desserts. I used to cook a lot of Chinese and Indian-style dishes, most of which are traditionally served with rice. Of course, I could make rice for the rest of the family or guests but it seemed cruel to my husband who, before discovering he was diabetic, ate rice probably almost every day of his life. I needed a low-carb alternative.

My first thought was the color: I wanted something white. A quickly following second thought was a neutral flavor: rice is a great accompaniment to highly seasoned dishes because it acts either as a foil for the intensity or as a lingering memory of the other tastes, as it becomes infused with them. I thought of cauliflower.

We had always loved french fried cauliflower—battered and deep fried in peanut oil—so for a while I made that and peeled the batter off my husband's portion. It was good, but it wasn't substituting for the rice in any way. 

Then one evening we went out to dinner and my plate came with garlic mashed potato. It was so good! I had my answer. The next evening we ate at home and had garlic mashed cauliflower. It wasn't very good, but I kept working on it, steaming the cauliflower instead of boiling it, adding a little salt, a little olive oil, still mashing it by hand. 

One day, I decided to go the whole way and grind the stuff up until it looked like the mashed potato that had inspired me. The taste of the "smashed" cauliflower was the best yet. What surprised me the most was that it really did taste like mashed potato.