I've Been Cooking Up a Storm This Week, Who Am I?

Truth be told I usually cook the first 3 days of the week and re-purpose my foods into new meals two other days.  This week I've been on a cooking and baking kick.  You would think fall has arrived!  I've made ratatouille, grilled fish with bok choy & brown rice, cauliflower crust pizza (yes, that's right - cauliflower in the crust), grilled chicken, pesto, steak and roasted potatoes, and Chocolate Girl Scout Cookie Truffles.

Today I baked chocolate chip cookies and banana bread.  There's no big ta da for dinner tonight though.  I'm going simple with chicken burgers, roasted sweet potatoes and chard.  All of it will be cooked on the grill, including the chard.  The a/c worked hard enough while I baked!

Most of the cooking was done in two days with light prep and finishing touches on the other nights.  I'm a big believer in cook once, eat at least twice.  I do not feel the need to stand in front of the stove for every meal every day if I can help it.  If I'm chopping zucchini and eggplant for ratatouille I'm going to chop enough to have it for a few meals.  It was a side dish two nights and the topping for the cauliflower pizza crust another night.  The trick is spacing it out and re-purposing them so you don't feel like you're eating the same thing over and over. It can as simple as adding the pesto into the ratatouille to change up the taste or using left over chicken for chicken soup another night.

The cauliflower pizza crust is not a recipe I can claim as my own.  There are a bunch of versions of it on the internet and I picked the one that went a little easier on the cheese.  It's simple and it tastes good when topped with whatever you're in the mood to put on your pizza.  For me it was ratatouille, pesto, mushrooms, turkey bacon and a little more shredded cheese.  It's not really something you can pick up and eat with your hands but it is satisfying.  The picture above is a double recipe, but I still only used one egg.  It stayed together just fine.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza
1 cup riced cauliflower
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 tsp Italian herbs

To rice the cauliflower pulse 1/2 a small head of roughly chopped cauliflower in the food processor.  It should resemble rice pellets.  Put into a bowl and add the egg, cheese & seasoning; mix well and spread out on to a baking sheet to form a crust.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake another few minutes until they're warmed.

If you don't have a food processor, steam the cauliflower a few minutes to soften.  Use a grater to grate the cauliflower into little pieces.  Let cool and then add in the rest of the ingredients, mix together, and bake.

Need help in creating healthy meals for your busy week?  Send me an email, janinemchale@empoweredplate.com, and together we can set up a plan that works for you.  You can also visit my website:  http://empowerdplate.com.