Organic Cauliflower, Onion & Bacon Squares

My Favorite Original Veggie Recipe - Illustrated!

These mouth-watering, savory cauliflower bites are dairy-free, grain-free, gluten-free, nightshade-free, and nut-free. They are not only delicious, but are also perfect for paleo and keto diets, and a yummy way to get lots of veggies into your diet.

It's taken me about a year to perfect this recipe and still have it meet my many food restrictions. Now, it's so yummy you won't even know what's missing! Also, the cauliflower is sweet and subtle, so even if you've never been a cauliflower fan, this dish may change your mind.

This is my own, made up, original recipe, so please check with me before reposting. Thanks!

Tech Geeks: Illustrations were created on an iPad pro using an Apple pencil with Autodesk Sketchbook and MediBang Paint.

Step 1: Prepare Veggies

Chop 3 medium organic onions fairly small

Rice 2 lbs of Organic Cauliflower (roughly 2 small heads)

Riced just means coarsely chopped. You can do this by hand, which is hard, or with a food processor, which is super-easy. Just pulse until the cauliflower looks like rice. You may need to work in batches.

3 medium or 12 baby carrots, also riced

Note: It's getting easy to find already riced cauliflower, if you want to save that step.

Step 2: Precook Veggies

Put the chopped veggies in a large glass bowl in this order:

Onions on bottom

Then carrots

Then cauliflower

Cover with wax paper and steam until softened. About 10 minutes. Work in 2 batches if you don't have enough space in your bowl or microwave.

Note: Why glass? It seems counterproductive to put my organic veggies in heated plastic, allowing chemicals to leach into them.

Step 3: The Batter

While the veggies are steaming, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare the batter.

In a large mixing bowl combine:

5 eggs

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp thyme

2 - 3 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 T onion salt

1/2 - 1 T salt

2 T coconut flour

Mix well with a fork or whisk until smooth.

Step 4: Real Bacon Flavor!

Remove the steamed vegetables from the microwave.

Now add 1/4 cup of BACON FAT

(You can also crumble a few slices of bacon and add them as well, if you want.)

Let the fat melt into the hot veggies and stir.

Note:If you don't want to use bacon fat, you can substitute any fat that's solid in the refrigerator.

Step 5: Temper, Temper

Tempering food is when you slowly bring temperatures of cold and hot foods closer so you don't cook eggs or curdle milk. In this case you need to slowly add the hot vegetables to the batter so that you don't cook the eggs.

To do this:

Add a heaping tablespoon of veggies to the batter and mix immediately.

Add another heaping tablespoon of veggies to the batter and mix immediately.

Add several heaping tablespoons of veggies to the batter and mix immediately.

Add several heaping tablespoons of veggies to the batter and mix immediately.

Add the rest of the veggies to the batter and mix immediately.

Stir very well once all the veggies are mixed in.

Step 6: Parchment Is Perfect

Line a large baking pan (that has edges) with parchment paper.

Drop a spoonful of batter onto each corner to hold the paper in place.

Step 7: Bake

Pour the rest of the mixture onto the parchment paper.

Spread evenly with the back of a spoon.

Bake on a center rack for about 50 - 60 minutes.

Step 8: Until Golden Brown

Bake until well browned and the edges pull away from the sides.

Optional: Taste and sprinkle with salt to finish - I use smoked salt.

Cut into squares with a knife and nom!

Step 9:

Step 10: Nom, Nom, Nom

After the squares are fully cooled, they will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week. They also freeze well.

I like to eat them cold, but you can reheat them in the oven or microwave. And if you want to get fancy, warm up a few squares and top with tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, and a couple of meatballs.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Comments

[LeslieGeee]

Rhonda , I made this with the psyllium & broccoli. I also used my home made Adobo seasoning and a bit more of italian seasoning instead of the separate powders. I also added gobs of bacon pieces. You hit this out of the park with this recipe it is so GOOD I have to keep from eating the whole thing all at once. What I really like is that it doesn't have an overtly eggy taste. Thank you so much for sharing your creation with us, it is truly appreciated :)

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[Rhonda Chase Design]

Thank you so much!! And thanks for your suggestions! I have the same problem not eating it all when it comes out of the oven, so I go a little lighter on the bacon just in case :-)

[offseid]

Cute illustrations and a nice instructable!

[Rhonda Chase Design]

Thanks so much!

[ThirdEarthDesign]

Sounds very nice, favorited and will take a look at this sometime. Really like the illustrations too!

[Rhonda Chase Design]

Thank You!

[PaulF272]

Type 1 diabetic on low carb diet for better blood glucose control, tried endless terrible recipes but happy to report that this is a great one! added some parmesan to the top and used butter rather than bacon fat, it was delicious! Thanks so much for this, now a staple in my low carb recipe book!!

[Rhonda Chase Design]

Thank You! I use butter when I make it for my daughter who doesn't eat pork : )

[Rhonda Chase Design]

Hi! I'm so glad people are getting good use out of my recipe!

For some of the comments about lowering the carb count:

Just leave out the carrot all together and use 1/2 (or less) of the onion. That's what I do when my carbs are creeping up. Add a little more garlic and some onion salt (no dextrose!). You may need to use less coconut since there won't be as much liquid.

The leeks (comment below) should be delicious, though I don't think broccoli will work without really changing the flavor balance.

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions!

R

[TeresaM7]

Oh, I love this recipe! I'm currently doing extreme low carb (am down by one size) and this will be an excellent addition to my recipes. OMG, it sounds GOOOOOOOD!!!!

[LeslieGeee]

TeresaM7 If you are doing extremely low carb you have to leave out the carrot. You might want to replace with broccoli. You also might want to replace the coconut flour with psyllium. I am going to try this recipe with the changes and maybe add some cheese with a cheese crust.

[TeresaM7]

Yes, LeslieGeee, I knew I couldn't put in the carrot. Or all the onion, for that matter. In fact, I put only a very little onion in, added some wild leeks (ramps) and so on. I've added my photo and alterations in an I Made It! post.
Oh, and coconut flour is fine for me. Even Keto (which I'm not) uses it, so it's fine. Thanks!

[Rhonda Chase Design]

Great! Let me know how you like it : )

[LeslieGeee]

Rhonda thank you for this recipe. I too am on a low carb plan and with a few tweeks mentioned above I think it might work for me :)

[lynn.c.berry]

Interesting that you don't want to use the plastic for fear of it "leaching" into your food, yet you are using bacon fat & bacon.

[antioch]

Sounds like you don't really find it "interesting" but actually kinda wanna talk about bacon instead of plastic but decide to beat around the bush, amirite?

[LeslieGeee]

lynn.c.berry you probably have never had organically grown and fed pork/bacon. The taste IS better than regular farm grown pork products. No nitrates, nitrites, no Monsanto GMO corn & soy products as feed. The containers you see in markets that are specifically made for microwaves are made because of the leaching of regular plastics. :)

[Rhonda Chase Design]

SusanS337's reply pretty much says it all, and I do use uncured meats : )

[SusanS337]

I think it is well documented that using plastics in the microwave can be considered harmful to one's health (Step 2) and it was helpful of the author to suggest an alternative including using wax paper as a cover. There are abundant sources of organic, uncured pork products (bacon) on the market and seasoned cooks know that even small amounts of this ingredient add richness and flavor, elevating even the simplest of recipes, without adding chemicals or other harmful substances. The author noted that substituting another fat would also work. This is a great recipe and a unique way of getting more cruciferous veggies onto one's plate.

[Rhonda Chase Design]

Great answer. Thank You! I do use uncured, natural bacon and do the best I can to avoid unnecessary chemicals.