No Carbs: Cauliflower Cheesy Sticks

We had friends over for dinner that are trying to avoid carbs, so I went to my trusty set of bookmarks and found a recipe that obliged and sounded interesting.

Inspiration

Keyingredient cauliflower cheese sticks

Since we were serving four adults, I made a larger batch.  I started with most of the head of cauliflower, but there was so little left that I figured I'd just use the whole thing. 

I made homemade marinara sauce since I only had a jar of meat spaghetti sauce and I didn't think that would be right.  It was quick to pull together, a can of tomato sauce, salt & pepper, fresh oregano (had it for another recipe), garlic powder, onion powder, and maybe some fresh parsley.

Running cauliflower through the food processor.

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower, “riced”
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup egg substitute or 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 tsp. dried Italian herb seasoning, divided
• marinara sauce for dipping

Directions

To “rice” the cauliflower, I used my food processor.  I had the 'shred' disc in with the chute so after being processed went in the bowl.

I microwaved the riced cauliflower until softened, about 5 minutes (no need to add any water).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray.

When your cauliflower is softened, add the garlic, lightly beaten egg, Italian seasonings, and 3/4 of the mozzarella. Stir and mix well, then spread onto your prepared pan.  I wasn't sure how thick this was supposed to be spread, I aimed for about 1/4 inch or so. 

"Riced" cauliflower mixed with egg, cheese

Bake until they start to turn golden brown; about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip the mixture over so the bottom side is now on top and add the remaining cheese and a sprinkle more of the Italian herb seasoning. Bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden.

Cool (until they harden slightly) and cut into pieces and serve hot or warm. Heat up marinara sauce and serve.

Flipped mixture.  This took two people to accomplish this!

Verdict

This recipe seemed untested and not well written since it felt like some of the details were missing (like how thin to spread the mixture) but I can deal with that, so I winged it. 

Lightly golden brown.

My squares weren't solid enough to be held, so we ate them off our plates.  This was only ok on the first time we tried it, but I forgot the marinara sauce in the fridge.  It wasn't terrible, but it was boring and just cauliflower flavored. 

The next night we reheated the leftovers in the microwave and remembered the marinara, which really made the dish.  I thought it was great!  I had a class and couldn't stay for a full dinner so I only got a small amount, but apparently Sonny D loved it and between him and Husband Jeff, they ate all the rest of it.  It seemed more like a thin breadstick than actual chewy bready-goodness, but still really neat.

If I were to base this only on my first meal of this without the marinara, I wouldn't recommend this recipe.  But once I had it with marinara, I would definitely make this recipe again.  I liked how it was healthy, didn't use a lot of cheese, but had a lot of flavor.