Mashed Cauliflower

A South Beach Diet staple.  This is great in place of mashed potatoes or grits.  Make sure you cook the cauliflower until it's fall-apart tender, otherwise the texture will be gritty and not creamy.  There are many versions out there, but this is how I make it.

Mashed Cauliflower

Ingredients:

• 1 large head of cauliflower, washed and chopped
• water
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup nonfat milk
• 2 tablespoons Smart Balance
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic

Directions:

• Dump the cauliflower into a large pot and add water until it covers the cauliflower.  Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to medium and cook until it is completely soft, approx 15 - 20 minutes, depending on the amount of cauliflower and size of your cut pieces.  Drain and add the cooked cauliflower back to the pot.
• Add 1/4 cup of milk, Smart Balance, parmesan, and TSSS and TSGG to taste.  Heat through over medium heat to melt the SB and cheese (don't scald the milk!).  Using an immersion blender, puree until creamy.  Add more milk as needed.

Note: Start out with just 1/4 cup milk, even though it might sink to the bottom and not look like enough.  You'll get a better idea of thickness after you puree the cauliflower and can add more milk afterwards if it's too thick. If you add too much milk up front, you can add a little more cheese to thicken it up a bit but it's hard to fix if it's soupy.