I’m so cruel. I posted a picture of the lemon tarte I made today, promising the recipe on my blog soon. Instead I’m posting cauliflower. A cauliflower gratin recipe I made a few days ago. But cauliflower can be good too …
As long as you’e not expecting lemon tarte.
This recipe was suggested by my nutritionist and has become a hit in our family. I never did do a follow-up post on the nutritionist’s plan, but I intend to. We just went on Saturday as a family and the session was great as all the kids got involved in learning how to eat healthily.
She asked me if I wanted to get weighed (privately) first, and I sort of hesitated since I was not planning on it. In the end I did and was so pleased to learn I had lost another kilo. (About 2 lbs). Since I started this in June, I’ve sometimes stayed the same, sometimes lost one pound or two, sometimes lost more. But I’ve never gained. That’s not bad considering travel, holidays, emotions (you know what I mean, right?). This plan is sustainable long-term and I’m about 25 pounds less than I was in June.
So here is one of the recipes that’s good for the whole family and you can adjust the quantities according to the number of people that will eat it. You can also swap out the ham for some other meat if you don’t eat pork.
Take one potato per person. We’re five, but two of them were smaller so I used 6. Peel them and cook them in advance. Then cube them. This is your starch portion.
Cook 1 kilo (2 lbs) cauliflower in advance and set it out to cool. If you’re in a rush, no biggie, but I like to do this part in advance so that the actual assembly will be fast. This (along with your salad) is your vegetable portion.
Speaking of which, I also like to cook the small onion in advance too, although you can do this right before you assemble. (You can also use a shallot instead of an onion).
When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven to 375° (or 350° if your oven heats fast). Combine the cauliflower, potatoes, onions, and 200 grams of cubed ham (your protein portion). To this add 30 grams grated cheese per person (your dairy portion), plus 2 tablespoons of sour cream per person (your fat portion). In our case that was 150g cheese and 10 spoons crème fraiche (our equivalent of sour cream).
I added a teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon white pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.
Mix it up.
Put it in a gratin pan like this
(rectangular with semi-deep sides)
Put it in the oven for about a half hour (keep an eye on it).
And you get this light, delicious family dish that you can serve with a side salad. That’s exactly what we did, and I made the dressing with a tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 3 tablespoons canola oil (this went over our fat portion for the meal if you count the sour cream), and a generous pinch of fresh chives. The two together were delicious.
Drink 2 glasses of water with the meal and top it with a piece of fruit. We didn’t have yoghurt since the dairy portion (cheese) was already in the dish.
And then you have your protein, vegetable, dairy, starch, and fruit for the meal! This is so easy and good, it’s now on our regular rotation.
- 5 potatoes
- 1 kilo cauliflower (2 lbs)
- 1 small onion or shallot
- 200 g ham cubes (7 oz)
- 150g grated cheese (5.2 oz or 1.3 cup)
- 10 tablespoons sour cream or crème fraiche
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- Pre-heat the oven to 375°F (or 350° if your oven heats overly well)
- Peel the potatoes and cook them in advance. Cube them.
- Cook the cauliflower and drain it.
- Slice the onion or shallot and stir-fry until tender.
- Mix all the ingredients together and put it in the gratin pan.
- Cook for a half-hour and serve with a side salad and a piece of fruit for a well-balanced meal.
Okay fine this one looks good too!! And healthier than the tart 😉 But I will take that one, too.
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Ha! Yes, cauliflower instead of lemon tart is sort of a joke. 😉