Cauliflower Grilled Cheese
If you’re like me, at the end of a busy work day, you’ve already been thinking about dinner for the last, oh, seven and a half hours. You’re debating on how long everything will take to prepare and you start eliminating items to simplify… until you crash and order a pizza. Such is life. Planning is hard, tedious and sometimes an unfathomable task to the person in charge. With that being said, we also know how our body feels when we fill it with things that aren’t good for us, so there’s always this constant battle. Sure, I’d like ice cream for breakfast, but I know I’ll have a sugar-induced headache an hour later.What’s really exciting is that more and more people are taking notice to the way their bodies react to the things they eat. It’s a very simple concept and yet, extremely informative. There’s a clear relationship one has with their body and it’s something that should take precedence. After all, how can you help others when you aren’t helping yourself?Most of the cauliflower grilled cheese recipes I’ve scanned in the last few months call for a lot of cheese. And I get it. It melts and binds perfectly, and, oh yeah, tastes really good. But, let’s be totally honest for a minute: just because you take the gluten out of something, doesn’t mean you can replace it with more indulgent things, like cheese. For the sake of attempting to take care of your body, but not totally depriving yourself of this childhood-after-school-snack-nostalgia, there is cheese in the “bread,” but not piles of it in the obvious center.CAULIFLOWER GRILLED CHEESE:1 | Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 2 | Line that paper with 2 Roma or Beefsteak tomatoes, sliced thin (about ¼ to ½ inch thick) using a knife or mandoline. 3 | Drizzle olive oil, salt, pepper and some balsamic vinegar over the tomato slices and place in the oven for about 30-40 minutes (depending on how roasted you want the tomatoes and how well they take to the balsamic saturation).4 | Take 1 head of cauliflower (this will make about 4 sandwiches) and pulse in a food processor or Vitamix. *Note: If you are using a Vitamix, you will have to pulse in smaller quantities. The finer you can get the “rice” the better, but try not to make it total mush. If you don’t own a processor of sorts, you can use a grater and a large bowl to catch the “rice” that may fly everywhere.5 | In a large bowl, add the following ingredients. *Note: This will be your cauliflower “bread.”½ cup Parmesan Cheese, grated½ cup Fontina, grated or a combination of Fontina, Asiago and Romano1 teaspoon Garlic PowderSalt and Pepper, to taste1 Egg1 tablespoon Dried Italian Seasoning or Dried Basil4 Fresh Basil Leaves (optional-- to add in between the Roasted Tomatoes)6 | Combine mixture and scoop out 1 small golf ball size (or larger) scoop onto a non-stick skillet, pan or nonstick grill where you’ll flatten with the spatula. Try not to make it too thin or thick. You don’t want it to break, but you also don’t want it to be super thick and not cook the egg in the mixture. Aim for about ½ inch-¾ inch. This should be on medium heat and each side should take about 4 minutes.7 | When both sides are browned, layer your tomatoes and fresh basil, making the last layer your grilled cheese side. You can lower the heat and let sit for another minute or two before devouring. For added protein (and to make it uber classy) throw in a slice or two of prosciutto. Yum!
