Quick & Easy - Faux Garlic Mash

We have been using our menu planner  for a couple of months now & usually I'm pretty good about sticking to it & having all the ingredients ready ahead of time.  But for the last week or so I have been kind of off my game in the meal planning department.  Actually, I was so bad I read the wrong line of the calendar & made salmon (on the menu the week before) instead of tuna casserole.

Anyway, I was making lamb for dinner a few nights ago & as I was putting the baggie of lamb + marinade into the fridge I noticed that I didn't have any starch or vegetables to go with the meat.  All I had in the crisper drawer were a couple of really old lemons, a few really old limes, & half a head of leftover cauliflower.  I didn't want to go out to get new produce since it was closing in on 5pm but we had cauliflower not too longer ago & Russell isn't exactly a fan of it.  Alas, I must work with what I had...but there has to be some way to jazz it up.

I had been reading a lot about new ways to use cauliflower so I thought I would give it a try.  A quick few minutes on Google & I was ready & armed with a highly rated recipe from Food Network.

The ingredients list seems much shorter than for real mashed potatoes...
     0.5 head cauliflower, cut into medium-sized chunks
     0.1 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
     2 cloves garlic, peeled
     1 tablespoon unsalted butter
     Salt & pepper

And the directions seem that way too...
     Boil the cauliflower chunks until they are soft (~6 minutes)
     Drain the cauliflower & pat the chunks dry while still hot
     In the food processor, combine cauliflower, cheese, garlic, & butter; blend until almost smooth
     Season with salt & black pepper to taste

Makes 2 cups

I had Russell taste the mash for seasoning & he could not tell it was not potato.  In the middle of dinner, I finally let him know he was not eating mashed potato.  He proceeded to guess a variety of vegetables but he could not believe it was cauliflower, even when I told him that's what it was.  The original recipe called for cream cheese which I didn't have so I used butter instead.  It did the job but I think the cream cheese would have made the mash a little bit thicker in texture & resemble slightly more like potatoes.  I did some rough calculations & this recipe comes out to approximately 112 Calories per serving while good 'ol homemade garlic mashed potatoes made with light cream is about 300 Calories per serving.  I am not saying I am going to completely give up my mashed potatoes but on days when I would like to indulge but really shouldn't, this comes in as a great option.