well I tired a little Hungry girl trick
 

I had made a wonderful low fat roast in the crockpot and was really looking forward to a nice meal but I really wanted a nice serving of mashed potatoes to go along with it and the green beans.

Well I was reading some of Hungry girls tips and I tried her idea of using the steamed cauliflower and fat free cream cheese and some instant mashed potato flakes..

WOW.. can I tell you NO ONE noticed that they were made with cauliflower !!!

You get the flavor of potatoes but the LOW calories of cauliflower... there was None left... at the end of the meal. My friends were stunned when I told them after the meal .. that the whole thing was Low fat low calories.. One of the husbands said he couldn't believe it.. until I pulled out the empty cauliflower package from the trash

No more empty white potato calories in this house.. That little bit of mashed potato flakes makes all the difference.. I used a Handblender and it worked like a charm in less than 15 seconds..
Smashed cauliflower/potatoes. YUM... :carrot:

I never read that from her but not too long ago, I made mashed potatoes with real potatoes and cauliflower mixed and I couldn't tell there was cauliflower in it.

I am so confused by this! To me, cauliflower has such a strong, objectionable smell that I've never been able to even try to eat it. Potatoes don't smell anything like that, so it's really weird to me that they would taste the same. Weird!

I need your recipe then. The one I tried was all cauliflower and it was not so good.

All of the brassicas (relatives of cabbage) can have that smell when cooking, but many of them have a very sweet, mild taste, especially after cooking.

I also mix cauliflower and mashed potato flakes (for one head of cauliflower, I use the amount of potato flakes to make one serving, sometimes two if the cauliflower head is really huge).

Cauliflower does have a little bit of a cabbage-like flavor, but it's one of the mildest tasting vegetables (if you overcook it, it doesn't really taste like anything). It doesn't taste "exactly" like mashed potatoes, but it comes pretty darn close. I would bet some people wouldn't notice at all (especially if they put any seasoning or topping in or on their mashed potatoes).

To me, it reminds me of a diluted colcannon (an irish dish made of potatoes mashed with sauteed cabbage or kale and onion - and some people add bacon though I don't know whether that's authentic and one called champ (potatoes mashed with onion). I sometimes also add green onions to my mashed cauliflower/potatoes.

Traditionally colcannon and champ are often served with a well of melted butter on top. When I've seen it in photographed in irish cookbooks, the dishes are always pictured with a ridiculously large pool of melted butter so that it looks like a a potato volcano with butter lava.

My husband doesn't care for the mashed cauliflower and potato mixture, but I think it comes very close to mashed potato - much, much closer than the cauliflower only. I think the secret to both dishes though is cooking the cauliflower until it's very soft. Cooking the cauliflower in low-fat broth or water and a couple bouillon cubes helps (the more liquid you use, the more of the cabbagey flavor will be lost).

I LIKE the cabbagey flavor though, so I cook the cauliflower in one small can of chicken broth in a large pot (so there's only an inch or two of liquid in the pot with the cauliflower - so it steams rather than boils).

I've tried doing all cauliflower mash and it definitely doesn't taste like mashed potatoes. I think when I did it, I boiled the potatoes and cauliflower and some garlic in the same pot, drained, mashed, added some soy milk, pepper, salt and that was it.

n
 

I didn't do anything fancy... just used a large bag of frozen cauliflower and put in some water in a pyrex dish w a lid... microwaved it for about 7 minutes then opened it and put in about 1/4 of a large block of fat free cream cheese = 3 tablsp and about 1/4 cup of water and put back in microwave for another 1-2 min.At this point there was no strong smell and the cauliflower was extremely soft.. when I opened it I started to puree it with my hand blender.
after it was smooth I added about 1/3 of a small bag about 1/3 c of dried potatoes right into the pureed mix... and blended it all again.. The mix I used was Idahoian yukon gold .. Just check to be sure you have enough liquid and no need to add anything i.e. salt pepper etc.. the potato mix was plenty of flavor. If it is too stiff at this point just add some additional water... as that is all the potoetos require to use when making them alone.. Then even smelled like potatos' Use the Old Taste Test if there isn't enough potatoes just add another tablesp full......

Perhaps using frozen cauliflower works better then fresh as I am sure they have to blanch them a bit before freezeing and that may take some of the strong cabbage smell and flavor out ...
Anyway I was pretty happy to find a decent subs. to use in t he future.. I can make a small portion or cauliflower and just add a tblsp of dry pototoe flakes and I am all set.

wow, so many different cooking methods! I'll have to try the potato flakes. We bought 1/4 grass fed cow. The meat is so lean...so this mash will be the perfect compliment to a roast.

Or I should say the roast will be the perfect compliment to the mash, since I'm trying to lose weight.

Thanks for the recipe crenita. I will be trying this for thanksgiving.

Sounds soooo good! I'll have to try it!

thanks for sharing, sounds definitely worth giving it a try))

I love cauliflower :drool:

I like to use sour cream and chive flakes mixed with cauliflower! It really makes for a ridiculously awesome dish... lol. But I've never tried using frozen or cream cheese, sounds good! I'll have to try it.

I am subscribed to and LUV hungry girl! However, I have never made her mashed cauliflower with instant potatoes. I steam my cauliflower with a few crushed garlic cloves until it can not be picked up with a fork. I then process the cauliflower and garlic in a food processor adding in a little 1/2 & 1/2, sour cream, onion salt, and dried parsley.
No one has ever known this was not potato. Pour gravy over the top, top with sour cream, salt and pepper, any way you fix it, so good.
I highly recommend using a food processor instead of a potato masher. If you try mashing cauliflower, it comes out stringy and lumpy. You also get the same results if using beaters. Just a heads up.