Cauliflower Colcannon

How I celebrated St Patrick’s Day this year, part 2. This is the vegetarian part.

The traditional Irish song… hear the famous Mary Black version here at Youtube

“Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream?
With the greens and scallions mingled like a picture in a dream.
Did you ever make a hole on top to hold the melting flake
Of the creamy, flavoured butter that your mother used to make?”

The chorus:

“Yes you did, so you did, so did he and so did I.
And the more I think about it sure the nearer I’m to cry.
Oh, wasn’t it the happy days when troubles we had not,
And our mothers made Colcannon in the little skillet pot.”

Cauliflower Colcannon

This Cauliflower colcannon recipe can still be served the traditional Irish way with a crater of melted butter in the middle
Usually this is made with potato and cabbage, but I decided to switch it out to cauliflower instead of potato  because well, I love cauliflower, and I thought it was a better alternative with nutrients. We’ve used mashed cauliflower before instead of potato so it seemed natural it could be used in colcannon also, which is really just a variation of mashed potato with cabbage. This serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups of cauliflower florets – this was the florets from about a 2 1/3 pound cabbage
  • 1 cup of 2 percent milk
  • 4 tablespoons butter divided (3 tablespoons for the cabbage and 1 later for the combination into colcannon), plus more for serving. Ideally use Irish butter for serving!
  • 1/2 of a small green cabbage (about half a 1 pound cabbage)
  • 2 roasted garlic cloves, minced
  • Salt to taste
  • Pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Bring cauliflower florets and milk to a simmer in large saucepan. Reduce heat to low. Cover pan and let the cauliflower soften, which might take 15 – 20 minutes depending on the size of your florets.
  2. Meanwhile, with your half a cabbage, with the cut-side down, slice it as thinly as possible into shreds, and probably cut it into thirds after that so they are not so long (think like cole slaw for inside a sandwich). Melt the two tablespoons of butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender and begins to brown. Season with the salt and pepper, to taste.
    1/2 small cabbage is all that is needed for Cauliflower colcannon for 4-6 Slicing cabbage into shreds for a Cauliflower colcannon recipe
  3. When the cauliflower milk mixture is soft enough that you can mush it, transfer contents of the pan a big bowl and then use a potato masher to mash it. After mushing the cauliflower, pour in the sauteed cabbage and butter from the skillet, add the minced roasted garlic, the last tablespoon of butter (this is optional depending on how much butter was left with the sauteed cabbage) and salt and pepper to taste, and mix until all is incorporated.
    Recipe for Cauliflower Colcannon that switches out potato for cauliflower but tastes just as good Recipe for Cauliflower Colcannon that switches out potato for cauliflower but tastes just as good
  4. To serve the colcannon in the traditional Irish way, after you put your serving of cauliflower colcannon on the plate like a small mountain, push the back of a ladle down in the middle of each portion to make a crater in the middle. Think Crater Lake, and Mt St Helens. Now add a 1 little pat of butter into each of those craters, which should melt. Now each person eating the colcannon can scoop a little butter into each spoonful of colcannon.
    This Cauliflower colcannon recipe can still be served the traditional Irish way with a crater of melted butter in the middle This Cauliflower colcannon recipe can still be served the traditional Irish way with a crater of melted butter in the middle

I have seen variations of this recipe that swaps out the sauteed lettuce for kale, or for leeks, or may sprinkle a bit of cheese in, or horseradish. Instead of Irishing it up into a Colcannon, leave out the greens to make simple mashed cauliflower instead of your mashed potato for any meal – you don’t need it to be a holiday or St Patrick’s to enjoy this side dish. Anything you can do with mashed potatoes you can do here!
This Cauliflower colcannon recipe can still be served the traditional Irish way with a crater of melted butter in the middle This Cauliflower colcannon recipe can still be served the traditional Irish way with a crater of melted butter in the middle
Have you had mashed cauliflower before? Or had or made colcannon?

Signature

Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup Recipe

For a cold winter day, sometimes all you want is a soup that warms you, radiating heat from the your middle to all your fingers and toes that are a bit stiff and chilled from the blustery winds of late or being a little soaked from the rain or snow.

Even better is if that soup is low carb, healthy. Something like this Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup Recipe.
Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup:  Easy Recipe Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup:  Easy Recipe

The roasted cauliflower in the Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup Recipe is pretty classic. All the pieces of this recipe are delicious, so putting it together only increases that right?

Especially this roasted cauliflower, which you have the option to season how you’d like- with garlic, in my case with dill, or whatever are your favorite herbs. Then roast!

In fact, you might be tempted, after pulling it out of the oven and quality tasting a floret or three florets, to just start eating then and just have a meal of roasted cauliflower.
Roasting Cauliflower with olive oil and dill for an easy, vegetarian, light and healthy Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup recipe

There’s something very low key about just putting something in the oven and letting it be while you attend to other matters, like laundry. Especially in the winter, roasting becomes one of my go-to ways to make a meal.

Temptation also appears with portion of the recipe with the sauteed leeks in butter- you may be tempted to rather than waiting another 40 minutes for flavors to combine in a soup, to just pour the leeks in pasta with a sprinkle of cheese and call it good. Especially right now at the Farmers Market, I can never resist grabbing a few leeks.

Patience and perseverance here will pay off though-  this Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup Recipe makes 6 servings. However, that didn’t stop F from, after I had one bowl and left for some errands, eating the rest of the pot of soup before dinner.

I guess it must be a testament to how good this soup is.  It is full of flavor, but light and not creamy (unless you switch out the skim milk for cream, or add potatoes instead of flour to thicken it a bit). If you are gluten free you can ignore the flour, and if you want this vegan, switch out the skim milk for soymilk or a bit of evaporated milk, and the butter for olive oil.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cloves of minced garlic (optional) and/or any herb you want to flavor the oil with for roasting- I picked a teasp0on of dill and left out the garlic since I needed to be around people later
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
  • 1 head cauliflower broken into florets – this was 1 1/2 pounds of florets for me
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 leeks, white part only, chopped
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 quart stock – I used vegetarian stock
  • 1/3 cup skim milk
  • 1 teaspoon parsley and 1 teaspoon of chives (or green herb of your choice)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Stir garlic and olive or vegetable oil together in a small bowl. Alternately, you can choose to flavor your oil with herbs instead of garlic (I picked dill). Arrange cauliflower florets on a baking sheet; pour oil mixture over cauliflower. Toss to coat, and then distribute to the cauliflower is laying flat all across the baking sheet so it will brown better. Roast the cauliflower in the oven until tender and lightly browned, about 30-40 minutes or so- just look for the color to be right. Halfway through, use a spatula to turn over the cauliflower so it browns on the other side.
    Roasting Cauliflower with olive oil and dill for an easy, vegetarian, light and healthy Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup recipe Roasting Cauliflower with olive oil and dill for an easy, vegetarian, light and healthy Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup recipe
  2. Melt butter in a 4-quart stockpot over medium heat. When the butter is melted, stir leeks and flour in the melted butter until cook until well blended, 5 to 10 minutes. Instead of flour, another option might be to use potato to help thicken- or just ignore it all together.
    Cut up leeks for an easy, vegetarian, light and healthy Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup recipe Sauteed leeks in butter for an easy, vegetarian, light and healthy Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup recipe
  3. Add cauliflower, stock, and skim milk to the stockpot with the leeks. Simmer all together until flavors have combined, about 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in the parsley and chives (or green herbs of your choice), salt, and pepper into the soup; simmer until desired thickness, 10 to 15 more minutes.
    Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup:  Easy Recipe

If you want the soup to be smoother, use an immersion blender, but I liked that it was a bit chunky! It makes your mouth work a little longer with it, feeling the textures in your soup, so you can savor it a little bit longer. I also think it makes you feel more full. I love soups that have texture.
Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup:  Easy Recipe
Serve with some bread! To keep it healthy I served it with one slice of Dave’s Bread- Blues Bread specifically, essentially a wheat bread with seeds like sunflower, flax, unhulled sesame and black sesame seeds, rolled oats, and blue cornmeal, and a little molasses for sweetness. But you can make a simple sandwich, or maybe a toasted piece of bread- maybe even garlic bread. Or a salad.
Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup:  Easy Recipe
For a little bit of richness, you may want to just sprinkle just a pinch of cheddar- that’ a very small luxury you can add. I think cheese can’t hurt that much!
Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup:  Easy Recipe

How do you like to pair soup with a meal? Would you go with just bread, upgrade to a sandwich, go full healthy with a salad, or indulge with sprinkle of cheese?

Signature

Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts

This recipe for Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts is a but the pear portion ahead of time (the pears will brown so can’t be done in advance). I have been specifically avoiding vegetarian side dishes that bury the vegetable side in cream and cheese- I think I already used my Thanksgiving side allotment of that all on the Butternut Squash Lasagna in Béchamel sauce recipe I covered previously.

Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts

So gratins and casseroles were out. I love roasting cauliflower (well, really roasting any vegetable), and I’ve also made cauliflower into a mash – you can make faux mashed potatoes that way. But I was still looking for something different… and then I found this. This recipe is another preparation of cauliflower which is done on the stovetop  in just 10-15 minutes, and really seems to embody autumn! Bosc pears work well, but you could really use any pear you’d like.

Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts

The original Fine Cooking recipe calls for 8 fresh sage leaves, but since I already used sage in the  Butternut Squash Lasagna and in the Harvest Quinoa with Apples and Walnuts recipe, I decided to season this with  a different herb and used a mix of rosemary and tarragon. Rather than parsley, I had these spicy radish sprouts from Nightlight Farm instead, which I like better than parsley. Yum, microgreens beats parsley any day.

This dish serves 8-10 as a side along with your main protein- be it turkey or whatever you are having for dinner!

Ingredients:
Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts

  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large head cauliflower, cut into small florets about 3/4 inch wide – about 4 cups worth of florets
  • 1/2 cup toasted and chopped hazelnuts – you can use other nuts also, such as almonds or walnuts
  • 8 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced crosswise, or I used about 4 springs of tarragon and a teaspoon of rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon salt + to taste
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper + to taste
  • 2 large ripe pears, cored and thinly sliced (I know I show 3 pears- but I only used 2, the third was for a few slices for garnish)
  • 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, or I used about a cup of spicy radish sprouts

Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts

Directions:

    1. In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter until light brown and bubbly. Add the cauliflower, hazelnuts, and sage. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with 1 teaspoon each of the salt and freshly ground pepper and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is browned and crisp-tender, 6 to 7 minutes more.
      Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts
    2. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the pear slices and parsley. Gently toss to combine and warm the pears. Season to taste with more salt. Serve hot or at room temperature.
      Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts

Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts
This is the fourth of a series of posts of recipes covering dishes to consider for Thanksgiving. All the recipes in this series will be vegetarian, so you might consider it for a side dish or if you have a vegetarian at your table like I do, be a way to provide something more hearty than the usual sides of rolls, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Check out my Recipes Index page for other dishes that I have covered in the past.

Summary of the Vegetarian Thanksgiving Sides Series 2013:

Vegetarian Recipe: Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Pears, Hazelnuts

As a side note check out that star plate that I first bought after college,  mostly because it was on sale and seemed pretty fancy. It also is not dishwasher safe but it would still be several years before I rented my first apartment with a dishwasher. Also not microwave safe but since everything I nuked came in a package from the freezer or in a restaurant leftovers container that wasn’t an issue.  Amazingly I still have the whole set including teacups and saucers,  which is more than I can say about my everyday dining set of stoneware that actually came from Facebook.  When we got married we looked at half a dozen places but could not agree on china so we continue to use a mish mash of dishware.

Do you have fine china or a full set of dishes or are you eclectic like me?

Signature