Well, as easy as day 1 of our culinary adventure went, that’s how poorly day 2 went. I knew not all of the recipes would be winners, but I had hoped to get past day two before an epic fail. But alas, day 2 - Cheesy Cauliflower Chipotle Mac & Cheese - was just that.
In all honestly, it’s not entirely unexpected when a recipe calls for both cauliflower and spinach but this month is about trying new things, so I committed and went for it.
I followed another Eating Well recipe, which can be found here. Outside of swapping the onions for onion powder, I followed the recipe exactly.
What intrigued me most about this recipe was the creamy cauliflower purée that was the base of the mac & cheese. Cauliflower is a favorite of my husbands but he is the only one who enjoys/eats it. So I thought maybe this would be a way he could enjoy cauliflower while everyone else didn’t really mind (or know).
So I started by making the cauliflower purée. My experience with the veggie was pretty limited but I was pleasantly surprised with how easy making the purée was - steam it; dump it, milk, and seasonings in a food processor; let it go. I sampled the purée when it was done (noticed my small finger swipe in the bowl) and was happy with how tasty it was. At this point, I was cautiously optimistic on the dish.
The rest of the recipe came together rather quickly, which was really nice since our evening included multiple hours of baseball practice and Tae Kwon Do.
After cooking the pasta to al dente, I sautéed the spinach with garlic, the onion powder, and butter. Easy peasy. I again sampled the spinach, and was feeling pretty good with how it tasted.
BUT this is where I think the recipe went wrong. I combined the spinach with the cauliflower, some shredded cheese, and the cooked pasta. The dish was finished off with some pepper and paprika. Again, the process was easy peasy but as I sampled the final dish, it felt super heavy and stogie.
As I served up the plates, all optimism I had for sneaking in some extra veggies into my kids diet were gone. I hoped maybe I was being overly critical.
My 6-year-old was the kindest of the kids who ate about six bites before he slowed and asked if “this was all there was for dinner.” The four-year-old choked down three bites because his father told him he had to try it before we would make an alternative. The 9-year-old took one bite and pushed it around his plate to make it look like more was eaten.
My husband and I managed to eat 95% of what I had served on our plates but both admitted we were just doing it for the kids. So, to sum it up…epic fail. As you can see from the plates that came OFF the table, they looked just about as full as the plates that were put ON the table.
Highs:
I learned I like cauliflower purée and will try incorporating that as a side dish in a future meal.
Ashlynn ate a fair amount of it before pushing it away. Likely because I just kept putting it on her fork.
Lows:
No one enjoyed the finished product
I have to find a different way to hide veggies in the kids food
The Scores:
Lucas: 2
Bennett: 1
Joel: 1
Allison: 2
Parker: 1.5
Ashlynn: 2.5
As a parting thought on day 2s adventure… Thank goodness for Pediasure and frozen chicken nuggets.
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