Playing Hide & Seek With Your Veggies!

When our daughter was a little girl, she wouldn't eat ANY vegetables or fruits . . .she still won't eat them! So, I had to get creative with how I used them. I would hide them in foods that she liked; foods like pizza (yes, Tara, you ate broccoli! I put that on our homemade pizzas!!), mashed potatoes (again Tara, you at cauliflower that I mashed in with the potatoes!), and the best part was that she never knew. . . until  now! LOL!

So, if you have the "picky eater" in your house, or even you yourself aren't a fan of veggies, here's a recipe that will make you rethink your stance on cauliflower. The recipe came from a Paleo cookbook and I simply made a few changes by adding some cranberries and a bit more apricots, and pine nuts. This recipe is so good with any dish, but goes great with chicken and pork dishes.

One step that is really important in this recipe is how you process the cauliflower. Make sure you pulse the food processor a second or two at a time. If you process it too long, you will have mash, and that's not going to work for the "rice" texture!

The cranberries just add a little more sweetness to this dish, plus. . . it's pretty! LOL!

This is one of those dishes that can be served hot or cold. It's great either way.

I hope you try this recipe and let me know what you think! Feel free to add some other ingredients as well, just let me know what you added and how it turned out!

Until next time,

Cheers!

PS......tomorrow, Tara is going to contribute something in our blog! Her writings are called, "Confessions of a picky eater!".....VERY FITTING for Tara!

Cauliflower Rice Pilaf

1 large head fresh cauliflower

1 TBSP Coconut Oil or Olive Oil

8-10 dried apricots halves, roughly chopped

¼ C golden raisins, roughly chopped

¼ C dried cranberries, roughly chopped

3 TBPS pine nuts

½ med.  onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

salt & pepper, to taste

Break the cauliflower into florets, removing the stems. Place the florets in the food processor bowl and pulse until the cauliflower looks like rice. This will have to be done in two batches; avoid not overcrowding or over pulsing- it will result in your cauliflower mash!

Heat a large skillet over med.-high heat and add oil. Add the onions and sauté for approximately 3-4 minutes until they begin to become translucent, and then add apricots, raisins, cranberries, pine nuts, and garlic. Stir to combine and cook until nuts begin to brown, about 5 minutes.

Stir in cumin and cinnamon and cook for another 2 minutes. Add cauliflower and cook another 3-5 minutes or until cauliflower is tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve hot or cold.

Adapted from WELL FED Paleo Recipes by Melissa Joulwan