Perfect Cauliflower Pizza

He has filled the hungry with good things... Luke 1:53 (NKJV)

This week, we take a break from devotionals for cooking.  Instead of feeding the soul, we’re feeding your tummy. It’s been a long time since I shared a recipe with you.  Going through various health crises has caused me to overhaul all my eating, menus, and recipes.  Eventually, I hope to tweak all my recipes on this site to include what I can actually eat now. 

Today I’m following a predominantly grain-free Candida Diet to reduce small intestinal fungal overgrowth, as well as to encourage a healthy balance of yeast in the gut.  I’m also eating carefully to heal a fatty liver (caused either by gallbladder removal or too many painkillers for my back). Eating lots of cruciferous vegetables, such as cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage, are just the thing to heal the liver.

This Perfect Cauliflower Pizza is so healthy and yummy, I just have to share it today. It is grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and Candida-friendly.  When I was being treated for SIBO and ate a low fodmap diet, I substituted broccoli for the cauliflower, and rice flour for the almond flour, and it worked just as well.  The trick is to get people to eat their veggies, hidden in the pizza, on movie night :-).  And what are we watching for movies? Our family has been watching reruns of The Chosen while eagerly awaiting season 3. We also enjoy many of the programs on Minnokids, especially the Torch Lighters about famous missionaries.  And now, for the recipe…

Perfect Cauliflower Pizza

Ingredients:

  • 1 large head of cauliflower, cut in half (or 3 cups riced cauliflower)
  • 4 eggs (organic, free-range)
  • 1-1/4 cups almond flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or Italian seasoning (optional)
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Wash and cut cauliflower head into two halves.  Core one half of the cauliflower, leaving short stems.  Place cauliflower florets in a food processor.  Grind until rice-like.  This should be about 3 cups.  
  3. Put riced cauliflower in a microwave safe casserole dish and cover. Microwave on high 4 minutes.  Lay out a smooth dish cloth on the counter. Carefully transfer the cooked cauliflower to the towel to cool.
  4. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the 4 eggs.  Add the almond flour, salt and seasonings. Mix well. 
  5. When the cauliflower is cool. Fold up the edges of the towel and squeeze out the extra moisture over the sink. Transfer the cauliflower to the mixing bowl and mix well.
  6. Add 1 T. olive oil to the cauliflower mixture and give it one more stir.
  7. Line a pizza pan with parchment paper. Carefully spread the cauliflower mixture onto the parchment paper, shaping into a pizza crust.
  8. Bake the crust for 25 minutes and remove from oven. Edges will be golden brown.
  9. Top your pizza crust with your favorite toppings. Mine include homemade pesto, organic green olives, organic red peppers, and organic spinach.
  10. Use a pizza peel to place the pizza directly on the oven rack. Bake another 10 minutes.
  11. Remove from oven and top with any extras, like hemp seed or sprouts for added protein.
  12. Enjoy!  Repeat with the other half head of cauliflower.  Or, turn the other half into riced cauliflower and freeze for next week!  

For an amazing Pesto:  Toast 1 cup walnut pieces in a pie pan in the oven, 7-10 minutes at 375 degrees).  Combine in a blender: Juice from 2 lemons, 1/2 to 1 cup olive oil (depending on how thick you want it), 2-3 cups of fresh greens (basil leaves, oregano leaves, spinach, kale, etc.), 1 cup toasted walnuts.  Blend until smooth.  Use to top pizza, zoodles, pastas, salads, etc.  

Scripture from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982

Party Beans, Rice Con Queso, and Sweet Potatoes

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. Psalm 95:2 (NKJV)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  The big day is tomorrow!  I pray that God blesses you with family and friends and a feast!  Here are a few more of our family’s favorite recipes for the holidays. Scroll all the way down for extra Thanksgiving links.

Party Beans

Ingredients:
(All bean cans are about 15-16 ounces)
1 can kidney beans
1 can great northern beans
1 can butter beans
1 can black beans
1 can black-eyed peas
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1- 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 bay leaves
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper

This is a great crock-pot recipe. First open your five cans of beans, empty them into a colander and rinse.  Pour all the beans into your crock-pot.  Next, chop your onion and peppers and add them to the beans.  In a glass measuring cup, combine the ketchup, water, brown sugar, bay leaves, cider vinegar, ground mustard and pepper.  Pour the ketchup mixture over the beans and veggies in the crock-pot.  Give it a quick stir.  Cover and cook on low heat for 5-7 hours, or high heat for 3-4 hours.  Remove bay leaves. Serve with cheese or chips for a great meal or side dish.  Any combination of 5 cans of beans will work, whatever you have on hand. Sometimes I’ll use a can of corn.  The more colors, the more festive for your holiday gathering!

Rice Con Queso

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups brown rice, cooked with 3 cups water, salt and pepper
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large red onion, chopped
1 small can green chilies, chopped
1-1/2 cups shredded Jack cheese or Daiya cheese
8 ounces Ricotta cheese or almond milk Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese or Daiya cheese

Put rice, water, salt and pepper in a soup pot.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and simmer for 50 minutes.  Or, you can cook the rice ahead in your rice cooker.  Saute garlic, onions, and chilies, in a bit of olive oil.  Add the sauteed veggies, along with the black beans, to the cooked rice.  Lightly oil a 2 quart casserole dish with olive oil.  Layer the rice mixture, Jack or Daiya cheese, and Ricotta or almond milk Ricotta in dish.  Repeat layers 2 times, ending with rice mixture.  Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheddar or more Daiya cheese.  We make one with dairy and a dairy-free rice con queso.

To make this a festive Thanksgiving dish, instead of serving in a casserole dish, serve it in a pumpkin!  You will have to pre-bake the pumpkin.  Here’s how:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Choose a small to medium pumpkin and wash thoroughly.  Cut off the top and scoop out the insides.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and turn the pumpkin upside down onto the paper.  Bake the pumpkin for at least an hour, until the inside seems tender.  Don’t bake too long, or it will collapse (that’s what happened to mine this year, so I don’t have a final photo for you 😕 ).  Remove from oven and place upright on a fresh lined pan or oiled casserole dish.  Layer the rice con queso ingredients and bake as described above.  It’s an amazing treat for Thanksgiving!

Sweet Potatoes

Here’s another crock-pot recipe.  We make this Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving and let it cook all night. The house sure smells delicious when we get up on Thanksgiving morning.  Then we scoop it into a casserole dish to serve later with dinner.

Ingredients:
6 medium sweet potatoes or yams (we like the orange yams best)
1-1/2 cups applesauce
2 apples, chopped
2/3 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 to 2 cups water

Place all ingredients in your crock-pot.  Cover and cook on high 8 hours or overnight.  Enjoy!

Need more holiday recipe ideas?  Check out my complete list of holiday recipes. Or my pies and jello salads.

Need an activity for your family around the dinner table, or while waiting for dinner?  Check out the Thanksgiving Chain.

Need a new grace to sing with your family?  Check out these favorite camp graces.

How about some Thanksgiving Bible verses to add to place cards at your Thanksgiving table?

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours.  Jesus loves you!  And because of Him, we all have a reason to give thanks!

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.  Hebrews 12:28 (NIV)

I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the Lord.  Psalm 116:17 (NKJV)

Scripture from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011