Dairy Free Explained and Cauliflower Revealed (25 uses)

If there is one responsibility that I have as a mom, its a duty to my son to help him eat good, and learn what food is good for him and not. As he is dairy free and barely eats any dairy products, I tell him God made him special and he can only eat the best foods in the world, so dairy and gluten are unnecessary.

Eating fruits and veggies are his favorite. Ever since he was a baby, he has had the most open mind when it comes to how we eat our veggies. We have tried the most unlikely things together and ended up both loving them; Avocado brownies and Popsicles, butternut squash noodles, black bean noodles, beet cake and even squash muffins, have been a few of my favorites.

I have come up with some creative ways to incorporate more nutrition into our diets. Greens are snuck into every meal, (shhh!) sugar is replaced with natural fruit sugars and more importantly I have figured out the best dairy free replacements any mom can ask for. Cooking dairy free for me is a breeze.

I have figured out the best dairy free substitutes for cooking as follows.

Milk- Almond milk, Cashew milk, Hazelnut milk, coconut milk, soymilk
Butter- Coconut oil, olive oil, shortening
Cheese- Cashew cheese, almond cheese and Cauliflower.
Buttermilk,Sour cream and yogurt,Mayo; Cauliflower puree, almond milk and lemon juice-

Once I discovered Cauliflower was so unique I had to learn more about it. I came to figure out that cauliflower is more versatile then you would expect. With recipes in both the savory and sweet side, there is more to cauliflower then you may have realized.

When you steam cauliflower, and puree it, It magically transforms into a dairy free butter mix for baking, an unlikely addition to mashed potato and even can be pureed into a dairy free frosting. Another one of my favorites is blending it up as a pasta sauce.

Here are a few different recipes proving that the king of the veggies, has to be the cauliflower. And best of all most of the recipes are dairy free~~!!

Cauliflower Alfredo: Blend steamed cauliflower into a puree with the addition of olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and some grated Parmesan cheese (optional and you can always use cashew or almond cheese instead or some nutritional yeast here for a dairy free sauce.) This yummy sauce can be served over noodles, or even spread on a pizza dough for a dairy free white sauce.http://detoxinista.com/2013/05/creamy-cauliflower-alfredo-dairy-free-nut-free/?utm_source=feedly
Cauliflower Frosting : I got the idea from a dairy free cashew frosting recipe. You blend up the steamed cauliflower with a little melted coconut oil,shortening, or olive oil, add powdered sugar and some vanilla and blend up until smooth. Refrigerate for ½ hr and you can spread it better on baked goods.http://www.food.com/recipe/deceptively-delicious-cream-cheese-icing-259436 http://sweetlifebake.com/2010/02/27/chocolate-avocado-cupcakes-with-cauliflower-frosting/#axzz3Ntt8IsVX
Cauliflower with mashed potato: Steam cauliflower and potatoes together. Mash together, add some dairy free milk and coconut oil to make smoother. You can use this mash over Shepherds pie or by itself. http://www.asweetpeachef.com/sides/cauliflower-mashed-potatoes/
Cauliflower Coffee Cake: Replace a traditional dairy-full dessert with cauliflower. For the coffee cakes that call for sour cream or yogurt inside, you can replace that with some cauliflower puree (steamed blended cauliflower), with a slight zest of lemon juice and a dash of dairy free milk inside of it, you can even achieve a bit of the dairy ‘sour’ taste. http://84thand3rd.com/2012/11/19/cinnamon-cauliflower-coffee-cake-caramel-sauce/
Feta/Cheese replacement: When making a yummy artisan pizza at home and you have a dairy free eater, try using cauliflower Alfredo instead of pizza sauce, and or using steamed individual cauliflower flowerettes and smashing them on top of the pizza for a “false” feta.
Cauliflower Brownies and Cake: recipes here. Replace traditional baking butter-cream mix with cauliflower puree instead.http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/06/18/cauliflower-chocolate-cake/
Cauliflower Fried Rice: Recipes here. Shred your raw cauliflower into rice size pieces. Fry with an egg and veggies and you have a carb free, dairy free yummy dinner.http://www.everydaymaven.com/2013/how-to-make-cauliflower-rice/
Cauliflower Fritters/Pancakes: Fried Cauliflower patties resembling potato latkes. Recipe here.http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2014/03/caramelized-cauliflower-frittata.html
Cauliflower Tater tots: recipe here: you can blend puree up with some gluten free breadcrumbs and make tater tots.http://empoweredsustenance.com/cauliflower-tater-tots-paleo/
Cauliflower bread replacement: You can see a few recipes here. You can make your cauliflower into bread for bread sticks, pizza dough or even bagels. http://www.theluckypennyblog.com/2013/05/the-best-dairy-free-cauliflower-pizza.html?m=1 http://www.paleomazing.com/paleo-recipes/paleo-pizza-gluten-free-nut-free-cauliflower-crust-pizza/ http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=2383772 http://lexiscleankitchen.com/2013/07/30/everything-bagel-cauliflower-rolls/
Cauliflower Hash: Like potato hash. Recipe here. Do note that Cauliflower cooks a little faster then potato.http://paleoleap.com/cauliflower-bacon-hash/
Cauliflower Tortillas: Recipe here.http://slimpalate.com/cauliflower-tortillas-paleo-grain-free-gluten-free/
Cauliflower Hummus: A bean free version of hummus. Recipe here http://ohmyveggies.com/recipe-roasted-cauliflower-hummus/
Cauliflower “Oatmeal”: I just found this recipe. So if you try it do let me know if it works.http://thehealthyfoodie.com/apple-cinnamon-noatmeal/
Cauliflower Cookies: I have found two amazing recipes for cauliflower cookies and you can see them both here.http://thesmartcookieblog.com/flourless-oatmeal-cookies/ http://www.nomeatathlete.com/vegan-thumbprint-cookies/
Cauliflower Soup: there are so many recipes out there for this that I will only include my favorites. http://elanaspantry.com/roasted-cauliflower-soup/ http://healthyblenderrecipes.com/recipes/creamy_vegan_cauliflower_soup
Hard Cheese for grating: wow, I just discovered this recipe by my one of my favorite bloggers, the spunky coconut. You have to check out some of her amazing recipes and start with this one.http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/2014/09/autoimmune-paleo-diet-dairy-free-cheese/
Cauliflower Cheesecake: I know crazy right! But it works, here are a few recipes I have found.http://thehealthyfoodie.com/non-dairy-paleo-strawberry-cheesecake/ http://www.eatabeet.com/2009/05/foodie-fights-cauliflower-and-raspberry/
Cauliflower Quiche: Eggs, veggies and cauliflower make for a yummy quiche thats dairy free. Recipes here.http://freshaprilflours.com/2014/06/25/cheesy-vegetable-quiche-with-cauliflower-crust/
Cauliflower noodles: move over sphegetti squash and zuchinni we have a new noodle in town. Recipe here. http://www.theironyou.com/2014/09/cauliflower-noodle-lasagna.html
Cauliflower burger: Make a veggie burger with mostly cauliflower, recipe here.http://thecozyapron.com/crispy-cauliflower-burger-and-for-everything-there-is-a-season/
Replacement chicken: Use cauliflower in place of chicken in orange chicken here and in hot bbq wings here. http://jessicainthekitchen.com/cheesy-buffalo-cauliflower-wings-2/ http://www.forkandbeans.com/2013/04/03/crispy-orange-cauliflower/