Another victory in the kitchen. Now, I must admit that when my husband suggested the iconic Irish dish, Shepherd’s Pie, my mouth watered a bit — until he mentioned using cauliflower for mashed potatoes. Sorry, gack factor! Yes, I’ve seen the recipes all over the net for Ideal Protein dishes that do such a blasphemous thing and pretend it’s “delicious” and “didn’t know the difference”. Doubting Delilah over here, I didn’t buy it for a second.
Fine, I will prove my point, I thought, and we got started in the kitchen.
O’Rooney’s Blasphemous Shepherd’s Pie
1 Head Cauliflower
1 carton of button mushrooms
2 Pounds of Ground Beef
1/2 Cup of Beef (or Chicken Stock since we didn’t have beef)
1 TBS Dried onion
1 TBS Garlic
1 TSP of Dried Rosemary
1 TSP Oregano
Preheat oven to 400. In a big skillet, brown ground beef. Chop mushrooms as small as humanly possible and add to beef. Throw in the garlic, dried onion, rosemary, and a bit of Oregano. Cook it until done. In a large pot, boil the cauliflower florets until fork tender. Either use a potato masher or a blender and whip them good. I added a bit of chicken stock to the Cauliflower and some to the meat to keep it moist. Then in a deep casserole dish, sprayed with olive oil, layer the beef mixture and top with the “mashed potatoes cauliflower.” Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
Okay, my youngest son busted me whipping up the Cauliflower, so our sneak attack didn’t really work, however, they both ate their small portions. “It was okay, I probably ate it because I was starving,” said the younger. “I can never trust you again,” added the oldest, “I knew those ‘potatoes’ were off.”
I ate it, and I liked it. Even the Irish husband had two servings, so I’d call that a “Gooooaaaaallll!” Sorry, World Cup fever, I’d call it a win!
June 30, 2014 at 10:10 am
oooh what a nifty idea… def going to try this!!! xxx
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June 30, 2014 at 1:03 pm
Hubby seemed to really like it. I thought it was okay enough to try again
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June 30, 2014 at 12:08 pm
I have made the one from The Real Meal Revolution (Tim Noakes) and you add butter, an egg and cheese to the cauliflower (not sure if allowed on your plan) and then I add lots of veggies to the mince. It really is delicious!!
Glad you tried it and enjoyed it:) It takes a lot to actually try something new…I was always very skeptical of anything trying to take the place of my beloved potatoes. lol.
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June 30, 2014 at 1:02 pm
It was okay, but no, can’t add the good stuff! I’ve noticed that when I’m hungry I’m way less picky about my food!!
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June 30, 2014 at 1:07 pm
Ahh the good stuff….lol.
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July 3, 2014 at 5:07 pm
Ok, I’m trying this for sure!
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July 3, 2014 at 5:08 pm
If that cauliflower doesn’t freak you out. It tastes just fine!
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July 15, 2014 at 5:13 pm
Ha, so B didn’t like the idea of eating cauliflower? At least it wasn’t green!
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July 15, 2014 at 6:17 pm
Yeah, it honestly creeps me out a little too. I know it’s not potatoes! Tasted fine though!
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