So… how much time has passed since I last posted ? 🤣
Post completing several full Whole30s and a few mini reset ones, I continue to follow (more or less ) a LCHF approach with lots of veggies.
Also flirted with keto for a few months, which:
- as a weight loss tool – full marks.
- Sustained energy in morning following one of those bulletproof coffees – check.
- Dental health – not so good. I think due to a low vitamin c intake !
So now veggies with carbs (sweet potatoes, beets, parsnips) are back on the menu as are fruits.
I may write a longer post about my thoughts about the pros and cons of ketosis and how Whole30 did change my approach to eating and life in general. But in the meantime — a recipe.
I don’t make cauliflower pizza that much (it’s labour intensive folks!) I do like to have it as a special treat. This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, grain-free (all that free means it’s time expensive) and yet tasty pizza crust that pretty much holds together 😉
Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 large head cauliflower (preferably organic *)
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 2 TBS arrowroot flour
- 1 TBS chia ‘eggs’ (recipe below)
- 1 tsp Oregano or to taste
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp olive oil
PREP:
Chia Seed Eggs:
Place ~1 TBS ground chia seeds in a dish and add ~3 TBS water. Stir and let soak. Will turn into slime.
After slime texture is reached, use about 1 TBS of mixture. Have the rest with yogurt -:) or compost it. Don’t bother saving unless you are baking the very next day. Otherwise I find it sits in the fridge and becomes icky.
The rest of the process:
Wash cauliflower, remove leaves and chop up. Steam for 15 min or until soft. Drain all that water of.
Place in a mixer bowl and purée till you’ve got rice size bits. I did this with an immersion blender (a really quite old hand-held Braun that still does the trick).
Then the secret is to squeeze out the moisture using a clean tea towel or a cheesecloth bag. Squeeze and squeeze again.
Return the cauliflower to the mixing bowl and add the chia ‘eggs’ and olive oil. Purée again, till smooth. Then add the flours, salt and oregano. I blend this by hand.
Caveat: Coconut flour is super drying. So if you use too much… the dough will get too crumbly. Although, usually I find it’s too much moisture that you have to worry about;)
Pat onto a tray (I use a stick free pizza pan. I still like to spread a little olive oil on the pan for flavour and guarantee no crust sticking to pan) or a glass pizza dish, pizza stone. Smooth down using a spatula. It doesn’t quite roll out like real dough. Also, alas, there is no flipping in the air of the dough.
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes till the crust is lightly browned. Depending on how much moisture there was in the crust, it may take up 15 min longer. Then remove from oven.
TOPPINGS
Add your preferred toppings and bake at 350 till done. I don’t eat meat, so can’t comment on that process. When we make this recipe, we always sautée the onions and mushroom first (for a few minutes) and then add the cheese and kale on top. Then we use the guide of when the cheese is bubbly to indicate that it is ready to gobble up.
NOTES on non-traditional flours
I like to experiment with using a variety of seeds and nuts to make my own flour with a nut grinder. I have made this recipe with almond flour (probably 1/2 cup), 1 egg and 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese. Also tried it with flax seed flour. My non-scientific notes would be that nut / seed flours are more “fragile”. They are not as drying as coconut flour. What does fragile mean? I find they don’t quite hold together as well. But again, this is anecdotal evidence. Don’t take my word for it.
Also a friend who is deeply passionate about bees told me that almonds (at least the ones from California) are a mono-culture and basically bad for bees. I haven’t researched the topic yet. I just trust my friend, and basically use way less almond flour than I used to once I went grain-free (more or less).
*Organic cauliflower. Apparently cauliflower is one of the clean-fifteen foods, so you don’t need to worry too much about pesticides. But if you can, IMHO organic is the way to go. I’ve used both.
A shout out to @authortinapowell who asked me for this recipe on insta (I’m @piquette) and inspired me to post this recipe.
30 Days Hath... 