Miracle Cauliflower - "Cream" soups and Alfredo sauce

My first foray into cooking with cauliflower other than eating it steamed or baked came in the form of a mashed potato substitute. It works... Kind of. The best results I had with it was when I added half mashed potatoes and half cauliflower. But I wasn't fooling anyone. It was still mashed cauliflower. 

Recently I came across this recipe http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/2013/01/grain-free-vegan-cream-of-mushroom-soup/ (this blog looks really great actually, I've pinned a few things to try!) that uses the cauliflower to help with the creaminess of the soup. I was skeptical at first but it really honestly worked (ok, my first batch the mushrooms got a little burnt. Oops) and tasted even better than the canned stuff. I wonder if a) it can be frozen and b) if it would work in place of canned mushroom soup. I'm definitely considering trying it! 

Also in the same blog was a cream of broccoli substitute. I figured if the mushroom soup was this good, the broccoli had to be decent too! I'm going to try it later today! 

http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/2013/10/grain-free-paleo-vegan-cream-of-broccoli-soup/

Secondly, I was trying to come up with an Alfredo sauce using as many power foods as I could. My first attempt using fat free cottage cheese -tasted- promising... Until I tried to warm it up in the pan and it went back to its clumpy form. Not so appetizing. Then someone shared this recipe so I thought I would try it out.http://pinchofyum.com/healthy-fettucine-alfredo  

If you kept it as is, you would need to count points for the cream and butter. I also found this adaptation, and decided to wing it a bit http://pinchofyum.com/creamy-cauliflower-sauce (original:) 

I decided to halve the recipe as I was planning to eat it with just my daughter and myself. 

4 cloves garlic (I used my pampered chef garlic press) 

1 tsp oil 

1.5 - 2 cup skim milk 

3 cups of cauliflower (I used 1/2 of a large cauliflower) 

Pepper 

Parm cheese (count points for this, depending on amount used) 

* see note for seasoning suggestion 

1. Sauté garlic in oil

2. Add milk (I used 2 cups), pepper and cauliflower, cover and reduce heat. 

3. Cook pasta (reserve water to add if needed, but I didn't since I used more milk) 

4. Once cauliflower is cooked, add cauliflower and milk into your blender. Add water if needed for smoothness. 

Note: I ran out of parm so I searched my pantry for an alternative. I got this at costco and haven't used it yet, so I tried adding 2 tsp to the mixture and it was just right! 

Serve pasta and sauce (about 1 cup serving). Enjoy! I'm going to try to freeze portions and see how that works (my "half recipe" still made a ton!