Swap Bread With Cauliflower For A Low(er) Carb Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Over the past few years, cauliflower seems to have morphed into a food world chameleon, standing in for everything from Buffalo wings to potato salad to the tortilla chips used to make nachos. Some of these uses may be a bit of a stretch — while cauliflower steak can benefit from a flavorful marinade, it doesn't have quite enough protein to make a main meal. However, the vegetable can be quite successful as a carb substitute. For this reason, developer Annabelle Randles chose it to make the "bread" for her low-carb grilled cheese recipe. The sandwich packs 12.4 grams of carbohydrates per serving (a slice of whole wheat sandwich bread can contain 12 grams).

To turn cauliflower into sandwich slices, you'll grate it to make cauliflower rice (start with the pre-grated kind if you want to take a shortcut), then mix it with eggs and seasonings. Form the dough into squares, bake them until they're solid and breadlike, and fry them in oil to give them color and crunch. They're now ready to top with cheese and make into sandwiches. Fry the sandwiches a bit longer until the filling melts and you'll have keto-friendly grilled cheese in just over half an hour.

The bread from this recipe starts with cauliflower rice, a versatile ingredient that can be used in rice bowls, stir-fries, and Mission-style burritos. Once you've gone to the trouble of making dough, forming slices, and baking it into something bread-like, though, you needn't save the bread for grilled cheese sandwiches alone. It could be used for burger buns (you could even make round ones) and would also be great with other hot sandwiches such as tuna melts, Monte Cristos, or cheese steaks.

You could also take the cauliflower "dough" and shape it into a pizza crust. Bake it as directed, adjusting the time if necessary depending on the size and thickness of the crust, then top it with pizza sauce, cheese, and any meats and vegetables you enjoy on a pizza. (Even pineapple, if you must.) Bake it again until the cheese melts and the toppings achieve whatever level of doneness you feel is appropriate — unless you're using any raw meats, the amount of oven time can be pretty minimal. You could also bake the cauliflower sandwich slices as directed and use them to make mini square pizzas. As demonstrated by Detroit-style pizza (Pizza Hut's or otherwise), pizza doesn't need to be round.