Cauli-fredo 白花椰菜青醬?!

Sometimes I do not know what I am getting myself into. Fettuccine Alfredo? I haven't had it in a few months, but I was not about to make it at home simply because I know what goes into the sauce. Then I came across a recipe from the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen which seemed to be perfect for replacing the creamy but extremely unhealthy Alfredo. And the answer is a sauce made from cauliflower! YES, c-a-u-l-i-f-l-o-w-e-r!

Cauliflower makes a good, creamy sauce with no fat, no soy, no gluten, no "bad carbs," and is a great way to "hide" vegetables in a meal. I decided to test the recipe last night. I cooked the cauliflower with garlic, oregano, and sautéed onion. After the sauce was blended and seasoned to my liking, I tossed it with some spaghetti (since I had no fettuccine at home) and broccoli and topped the whole thing with some carrots.

Cauli-fredo with Broccoli

1 head cauliflower, chopped into small pieces
4 cups vegetable broth

4-6 cloves garlic

1/2-2 tsp. oregano

1/2 onion

pinch cayenne pepper

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Sauté the chopped onions with a pinch of salt until they reduce into a nice brown mass, about 15-20 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another few minutes. Using the lesser amounts of each seasoning, place all the remaining sauce ingredients into a large saucepan and cook, covered, until the cauliflower is very soft, about 15 minutes. When it's completely tender, use a blender to puree the cauliflower to a smooth sauce. Check the seasoning of the sauce, and add more to taste. Allow the sauce to simmer and thicken while you prepare the pasta.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the pasta. Add the broccoli florets about 2-3 minutes before the set cooking time for the pasta. Cook until the pasta is al dente. Drain the pasta and broccoli and return it to the pan. Stir in the cauliflower sauce.

Of course I was not expecting this healthy version to even resemble the taste of the classic fettuccine Alfredo. But it tasted surprisingly good: the cauliflower forms a light yet slightly creamy sauce and to me tasted so much better simply because of the healthy factors : D