Recipe: Creamy Whipped Cauliflower

I've never really been a fan of cauliflower, but the only way I'd ever had it was cut up on a crudite platter. Cauliflower is really an amazing secret weapon for low carb dieters, however, because of it's versatility in imitating other things, from rice to mashed potatoes. It takes on the flavors of whatever you season it with. Here's our super easy take on mashed "potatoes." This is what changed my mind about cauliflower!

Creamy, dreamy cauliflower

Creamy Whipped Cauliflower

1 medium head of  cauliflower
4 oz (half a tub) of any flavor of sour cream based chip dip (We used AE bacon french onion)
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
cracked black pepper to taste
other seasoning to taste (we used this stuff called Fire Sprinkle that is our friend Drew's secret recipe-it's a spicy barbeque flavor. You could use Mrs. Dash or any other seasoning blend you like.)

Remove the leaves and stem from the cauliflower. Break it up into medium sized florets. Put the florets into a soup pot and cover with water. Put a lid on it and bring to a boil. Boil until the florets are fork tender. It can't really boil too long, so just walk away for awhile. When the florets are tender, drain the water and put them into a blender or food processor. Add the chip dip, salt and butter. Blend until smooth. Pour into a serving bowl and top with freshly cracked black pepper and other seasoning to taste. This makes 2 large servings, and would be a great easy side to make when you bring home a rotisserie chicken in a hurry.

A big 'ol pile of smoked meats- chicken drumsticks and some pork ribs.

Here's the directions from the Traeger website for cooking the chicken drumsticks. We bought some that were already seasoned with barbeque flavor.

When ready to cook, start the Traeger grill on Smoke with the lid open until the fire is established (4 to 5 minutes).

Arrange the chicken legs on the grill grate and smoke for 30 minutes. (If you don't have a smoker, do this in the oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes. If you have the option of convection, use it, it works even better this way.) Increase the temperature to 350 degrees and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, or until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the leg (but not touching bone) reaches 165 degrees F.

How do you think cauliflower compares to potatoes? Kent has nicknamed it "fauxtatoes"!