Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I never thought I would have a wheat-free pizza, but this recipe for cauliflower pizza crust is a fantastic replacement for standard pizza crust. I first spotted it on Seattle Local Food, but it's originally from the Low Carb Examiner.

One of the best things about this crust is that it's almost as stable as real pizza crust. It breaks apart a bit when it's too thin, but I think if I make it a bit thicker it will work better. I made it about 1/4 inch thick and it should be at least 1/2 inch uncooked.

The other great thing is that it doesn't taste like cauliflower. Not that there's anything wrong with the taste of cauliflower, I love it, but it's nice to have this base for pizza that won't impose on the flavour of the toppings. I think the key to this is probably a long cooking time, too, to remove more of that cauliflower flavour.

Above are my two experiments with this pizza crust, both with leftover chicken from the night before. The first is a Hawaiian chipotle with red peppers, pineapple, and goat cheese. The other is a carmelized onion and chantrelle mushroom, also with goat cheese. Both delish!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust
makes 1 8-inch crust

1 cup cooked, mashed cauliflower
1 egg
1 cup grated parmesan (the original recipe calls for mozzarella

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cook the cauliflower as you like, and cook it until well done - I steamed mine in chunks for about 7-10 minutes. Then blend or mash it up, as fine as possible. Add the egg and cheese.

Spread the dough onto a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper, at least half an inch thick. Bake until the crust is dark brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Add toppings and put back in the oven until toppings are cooked and cheese is melted. Yum!

Zucchini Tomato Gratin

I recently bought the book Chez Panisse Vegetables, recipes from Alice Waters' restaurant in Berkley (http://chezpanisse.com/). It's stellar. I've tried several of the recipes so far, the most frequent being the zucchini and tomato gratin. I love it, it's so good. I think the secret is the sauteed onions. And herbs. And tomatoes... you get the idea, the whole thing is just so good! Although technically I'm not sure it's a gratin, it's more of a caserole or a bake. But I'm in no position to argue semantics with Alice Waters!

Today I made it heavy on the zucchini, since I had a whole one to use up but didn't want to make a huge batch to compensate. Usually it's about half and half zucchini and tomato. Here's the recipe as I made it today.

1/2 a large onion
1 tsp butter
approx. 10 sage leaves, chopped
1 medium zucchini
1 medium tomato
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
10 white mushrooms (or are they called brown mushrooms?)

Saute onions in the butter on a low temperature for about 15 minutes, until soft. Add the herbs, continue to heat for about a minute, then pour into a small baking dish, about 6 inches in diameter.

Cut zucchini and tomato into thin (1/4 inch) slices. Layer the tomatoes on top of the onions, then drizzle a bit of balsamic vinegar over them and salt and pepper. Then layer the zucchini over that. This might be two layers of zucchini. On top of each layer, drizzle some olive oil, then salt and pepper.

Chop the mushrooms very small (I used a small food chopper but a knife would be fine) and spread over the gratin. Cook at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, until the juices are bubbling.

Zone-wise, this is about 2.5 carb blocks, with higher fat and no protein.

Kefkedes (Greek Meatballs)

So I was looking for recipe for Kefkedes (a.k.a. Keftedes, a.k.a. Koeftedes, a.k.a... you get the idea) and there are a LOT of variations. Herbs can include parsley, mint, cumin, oregano, nutmeg. Quite a few also include white bread soaked in water or milk, but since I don't eat bread I omitted that part. Here's the recipe that I ended up with, which makes about 3 portions of 2 protein & fat blocks (if you're into Zone portions), with negligible carbs:

10 oz. ground beef
1 egg, slightly beaten
~ 1/4 cup chopped parsley
~ 1/8 cup chopped mint
1/2 cup minced onion
salt and pepper
coconut oil

Make sure the onion is minced as small as possible - run it through a food chopper if you have one. Then combine all ingredients except oil. Heat the oil in a pan at medium heat. Form meatballs and pop into the oil. I found that 1-inch balls at a low enough heat can cook through just in the pan, but if they're bigger you might have to put them in the oven after browning to cook them all the way through.

This recipe could have also benefited from garlic for some added flavour. Meat and parsley is an interesting combination and one that I haven't had much before. I had these with basil spinach that I found on My Paleo Kitchen. All in all a successful meal, plus I have enough for two more meals, awesome!

Cabbage Concoction

Here's a cabbage concoction that I REALLY love. It can be modified in pretty much any way imaginable, but the original is the best I've had.

3 cups diced cabbage
4 slices pancetta, chopped
~10 green onions, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 splosh cooking sherry
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Cook pancetta in batches, only keep last third in its oil. Add garlic until browned (~15 seconds), then add cabbage, onion, and splosh in sherry. Stir and wilt for ~30 seconds, then add cilantro, stir, remove from heat and cover to wilt more.

Other good combos I've tried: ground lamb and a bit of chopped mint in addition to the cilantro; prosciutto instead of pancetta - it's not nearly as fatty, so you have to add oil yourself.

Yummmm!