completely healthy "mac 'n' cheese"!

Healthy "comfort foods" are pretty hard to come by sometimes. And especially when you're trying to find a substitution for a creamy, soft white pasta dish. This recipe however, blew all my expections out of the water. Especially considering it uses all sorts of substitutions (like almond meal instead of breadcrumbs, and coconut milk instead of dairy milk) that you'd think would make it just that bit less pleasant. But no! This recipe is creamy, thick, more-ish and tastes anything but healthy.

And it's all thanks to the guys at "Thank God it's Paleo".

So ok, there is no 'mac' here.. it's all cauliflower. But with the bacon and cheese (yes, there is cheese but that's the only 'cheat'), and cauliflower cut up into small florets, the pleasure factor is just as high.

Ingredients

5 Thick Slices Bacon

1 Can Coconut Milk

1 T Arrowroot Powder, dissolved in 1 T Water (cornflour can be used instead)

4 oz Gruyere Cheese, grated

4 oz Raw Milk Cheddar, grated

1 t Black Pepper

1/8 t Nutmeg

1 Head Cauliflower

1/2 c Almond Meal

1/2 c Parmesan cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Chop the cauliflower into florets, then set aside. Fry the bacon until crisp, then chop into bits.  Set aside.

Over medium heat, heat the coconut milk almost to a boil in a large saucepan or stockpot.  Whisk in the arrowroot powder and continue stirring until slightly thickened.  Remove from heat and whisk in Gruyere and Cheddar, then the pepper and nutmeg, and then the diced bacon.

Add the cauliflower and stir well to coat with the cheese sauce.  Pour everything into a baking dish.

Blend the almond meal and Parmigiano together and sprinkle over the mac & cheese.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Bake at 200C for 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Yum.