At first, it didn’t seem possible to me that cauliflower could substitute well in mashed potatoes but, except for a slightly different texture, it’s excellent. I’m not big on using a lot of potatoes unless they’re a colorful variety (purple) or extremely skin intensive (fingerlings), but once in a while you have a dish that traditionally pairs really well with mashed potatoes. Besides that mashed cauliflower is perfectly tasty on its own, you can prepare it to mock mashed potatoes. It being lower in carbohydrates and nutritionally superior is a bonus.
Put anything into the mashed cauliflower that you would try in mashed potatoes. Today I wanted to use up some cream cheese but normally I wouldn’t have that and would use butter. If you want to go dairy-free substitute stock for the milk or just reserve some of the drained boiling water. They’ll be thicker if you don’t add the liquid but harder to purée.
Mashed Cauliflower
1 medium head cauliflower
2 T cream cheese or butter
1 large clove crushed garlic
1/4 C milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Bring a pot of water to boil while you cut the cauliflower florets off of the main stalk. Put the cauliflower in the boiling water for ten minutes. Drain and put into a food processor or blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and purée until as smooth as you like.
