Cauliflower Mashed “Potatoes” with Lentil Stuffing
Thanksgiving in July
It was Thanksgiving at our household last night. Thanksgiving in July? You bet. There are no rules about Thanksgiving food. It also happens to be one of my all-time favorite meals.
So I did it. I got creative! Thanks to some inspiration from Pinterest, I pulled together a savory meal.
The cauliflower mashed “potatoes” inspiration was courtesy of Nom Nom Paleo. The only difference is I steamed my cauliflower in a bowl in the microwave instead of on the stove. Oh, and I didn’t use nutmeg either.
So basically here’s how I made my cauliflower mash:
- Place cauliflower florets and a little bit of the stalk into a microwave safe bowl. Fill with approximately 3/4 cup water. Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 5 minutes.
- Remove from microwave, stir the cauli, cover back up, and microwave for another 5 minutes.
- Remove from microwave and add in three chopped garlic cloves. Cover again, and microwave for 3 more minutes.
- Remove from microwave and carefully place cauliflower and garlic into a food processor. Try to exclude the excess water in the bottom of the bowl. Add in 1 Tablespoon of butter (grass-fed organic preferred).
- Process until you have reached a smooth consistency like mashed potatoes!
- Season with salt and pepper. Serve with my lentil stuffing!
The stuffing was extremely easy to make. I started off with 2 cups of cooked lentils (I cooked mine in chicken stock to add more flavor). You can set those aside to begin with while you prepare the other veggies.
I first sautéed 1/2 cup each of diced carrots, onions, and celery. I then added 1/2 cup of diced zucchini and sautéed for a couple of minutes (more detailed recipe below). Lastly I added in all of my herbs and seasonings as well as the cooked lentils and let everything cook through.
When it came time to plate I plated the cauliflower mashed potatoes first, followed by the lentil stuffing. In retrospect, I wish I would have used a different colored plate! It would have made for a prettier photo. Oh well!
Here is the complete lentil stuffing recipe:
| Lentil Stuffing | | Print |
- 1 Tbsp olive oil or pumpkin oil
- ½ cup carrots, small diced
- ½ cup onion, small diced
- ½ cup celery, small diced
- ½ cup zucchini, small diced
- 2 cups lentils cooked in chicken broth
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- sprinkle of garlic powder
- salt and pepper
- In a medium saute pan, heat oil on stove over low-medium heat.
- Add carrots, onion, and celery and saute for 4-5 minutes.
- Add in the zucchini and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Add in the lentils and the rest of the seasonings and stir.
- Continue to cook and stir until heated through for 3 more minutes.
- Serve on top of cauliflower mashed "potatoes". ENJOY!
I felt like I was eating mashed potatoes with stuffing from Thanksgiving dinner. The slightly crunchy texture and savory flavor of the stuffing reminded me exactly of the “standard” Thanksgiving stuffing, and the cauliflower mashed potatoes tasted surprisingly similar to mashed potatoes!
If you are vegetarian or vegan, you could replace the chicken broth with vegetarian broth and exclude the butter if you wish, and you would be set!
This recipe may seem a little out there to some, but don’t knock it ’til you try it. You will be pleasantly surprised at the flavor and textures of this dish!
Happy Thanksgiving Wednesday!!
If you get the chance, hop on over to Katie’s blog at Running4Cupcakes. I wrote a guest post for Katie today about making Almond Butter which will be going up at some point today! Since I’ve lightened my peanut butter consumption, I have become a pro at making super creamy and slightly sweet almond butter!
