I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries about the western diet lately (yes, I enjoy watching documentaries on my Saturday nights ). And what’s been my one big take out from them all? To focus more and more on a plant based diet.
A lot of what I’m learning from these documentaries is stuff I already know. But some is not – and I like that, a lot. Sometimes in life ‘ignorance is bliss’. But in this case, knowing all the facts about what a proper human diet should consist of has been the most eye opening thing ever.
I plan on doing a more in depth post about all these documentaries soon, so keep reading. But for now, I can sum up my learnings in two pictures:
It’s all about these:
And not about these:
Pretty simple stuff, hey? But when you dig a little deeper and look past all the assumptions we’ve built up over a lifetime of ‘food pyramid‘ misinformation, well then it starts to get a little more complex.
For example, as I try to focus more on plant based living, I don’t want to rely on grains and starch to feel sustained. It’s tough to do, because all the age old comfort foods come packed with grains and starch – like bread, cereal, potato - all the things that have sat at the bottom of our food pyramid for so long.
The good news is we can find alternatives with other, more natural ingredients, to almost anything.
I’ve made this Cauliflower Mash a few times now and always revert back to it when I feel the need for some sort of comfort food. Top it with some mushroom gravy and your sorted for mash and gravy!
Cauliflower Mash
1 head of cauliflower, washed and sliced
1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil (I used garlic infused)
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Steam cauliflower until very tender.
2. Place into a food processor along with the extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and process until smooth and similar consistency to mash potato.
3. Ready to serve! Enjoy! And be surprised by the delicious taste.
Get a closure look at that texture…
I know the idea of cauliflower mash sounds weird, but trust me – you just have to try it!
Sounds really nice. I’ve also made a really nice raw “mash” from processed cauliflower, macadamia nuts, salt & a little oil/water. I also really like thick split pea soup for mashed potato cravings, the peas are pretty starchy but better than potatoes I think. I’ve never tried cooked cauliflower mash I will have to give this recipe a try! If I do make mashed potatoes I find adding in some parsnip is great too.
OOOh that raw mash sounds lovely! I like the ideas of mixing the cauliflower with macadamia nuts. I would like to taste that.
Thanks for the tips!
Delicious. My boyfriend grew up eating spicy mashed potatoes, but he wanted to try your recipe, so he added chili powder and red pepper flakes to them, and served them with Cajun spiced tempeh. Came out pretty good! Thank you!
Ahh fantastic! That sounds delicious! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it