Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

 I’m not a dairy lover so I’ve never been the Mac n’ cheese  gal in the room. However, I do have a daughter who just loves it. My boys like it too but only the gross neon orange kind from a box. It may as well say, “manufactured in Chernobyl”. So while my little guys would never touch a fresh version that’s made with a vegetable, my second daughter loved this variation. It might even be more of a cauliflower gratin, but either way it’s delicious. I really dug it too. I looked up a bunch of cauliflower Mac n cheese dishes online and almost all contained ingredients totally counterproductive to cooking healthy. Flour, butter, massive quantities of cheese. Frankly none of them seemed healthy or clean. I came up with this one and it was a big hit while keeping the load light.

Ingredients:

Two large heads cauliflower cut into small florets

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese of your choice

A small bunch of fresh oregano

1/4 pulverized original GG crackers to use as breadcrumbs.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. Spread the florets in a pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Bake until fork tender, about 40 minutes. When ready, mix with half the cheese and half the breadcrumbs. Put in a greased 9X13 baking dish.  Put remaining cheese on top, add the fresh oregano leaves, then remaining GG crumbs. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes until the cheese melts. If using a metal pan you can broil for a quick minute to crisp up the top. Don’t broil in a glass pan!  Can serve in individual ramekins or bake as such too. This is a sophisticated, zero guilt take on a classic favorite. Enjoy!