The Kitchen Is Where The Heart Is

As the new year rings in I am looking for new foods to spice up my cooking repertoire. This evening my teenage daughter and I are a team in the kitchen! I know what you must be thinking.... teenage daughter, cooking healthy with her mother? This is certainly a recipe, a recipe for disaster? To ease your fears I have removed all sharp objects from the drawer. This idea was actually hers. We are going where no good Italian has gone before, Cauliflower Crust Vegetable Pizza. A classic with a healthy twist.Before we begin music has to be selected. We can't create a vegetarian masterpiece without some musical inspiration. Band Of Horses is our musical compromise. Ben Bidwells voice fills the kitchen & we begin to slice and dice our toppings. Sabrina assures me " a 35 year old white suburban mom like you would not like Earl Sweatshirt " (the other musical choice).Although I am sure I could handle it, I like that she was worried about me. lol The crust enters the oven for 30 minutes and we wait for the timer to tell us dinner is ready. Our pizza is great. After a few moments  of indulging a loud BELCH is let go to my right. Tonight I am a lucky mom lol.  Below is the recipe we followed. If you're feeling healthy give it a try.

      Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Ingredients:
Crust:

1 cup Grated Raw Cauliflower or 100 g (2 Greens)

1/4 cup Egg Beaters (1/8 Lean)
1/2 cup or 2 oz 2% Reduced Fat Three Cheese Mexican Blend (4/8 Lean)
1/8 tsp garlic powder - optional (1/2 Condiment)
1/4 tsp basil - optional (1/4 Condiment)

Toppings:

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp or 1.5 oz 2% reduced fat Mozzarella cheese (3/8 Lean)

1/2 cup Italian diced tomatoes or Rotel tomatoes, canned - less than 5 g of carbs per serving (1 Green)

Directions:
Measure out 1/2 cup diced tomatoes and puree in blended or chopper. I just pulsed for a few seconds in my little chopper. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spray lightly with cooking spray. Combine grated cauliflower, egg beaters, cheese, garlic powder and basil until mixed completely. Spoon mixture on prepared pan. Use the back of a spoon to thin out mixture and form a circle about the size of a dinner plate without the rim. The thinner the crust the less chance of it being soggy. Bake for 30 minutes. Carefully flip the pizza crust over by using a spatula to lift all edges of the crust off the parchment first. Bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes until edges are really brown and crisp. Mine are usually burnt around the edges but it won't taste burnt. Let cool.

Add tomato sauce and cheese on top. Broil until cheese is melted about 5 to 10 minutes. If you are making several cauliflower pizza crusts like I usually do, you can wrap the pizza individually in foil tightly with the cheese and sauce already on top. Stick them in gallon size Ziploc bags. I usually can fit 2 or 3 pizza crusts in a Ziploc bag. When ready to eat, take it out of the freezer as you would a normal store bought frozen pizza. Bake for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees or until cheese has completely melted. I can usually get 4 to 5 pizzas from one head of cauliflower! Enjoy!