Shiny happy people holding hands

Everyone around, love them, love them

First, I’ve gotta take a second and thank everyone for the tremendous response to my post yesterday. People reached out to me to share their own stories, even a couple of people I’ve never met before. And it was truly touching. And a reminder that we never know what a stranger is dealing with–so be kind. So thank you for sharing, for your words of encouragement, and for letting so many people, including me, know that we are not alone. We may not all be shiny, happy people, but it made me so happy to know others heard me and let me hear them. That we virtually held hands.

And I get to follow that up with a discussion on cauliflower.

It seems the only way I am motivated to cook lately is if I tie it to some kind of “event”. Like my Vegan Valentine’s. Well this past Sunday it was for the Oscars. Yes, I am one of those people that the Academy Awards are my version of the Super Bowl. So yummy food should be involved. I thought I’d take it as an opportunity to try out some new vegan recipes, and I invited friends to torture get feedback from.

Here’s what was on the menu, all from Thug Kitchen Party Grub (I know, I’m addicted):

-Landlocked Ceviche- basically cauliflower instead of fish

-Stuffed Mushrooms- stuffed with quinoa and herbs

-Deviled Chickpea Bites- basically hummus on cucumber and baguette

-Black Bean and Corn Salad

-Meatball Subs- except the balls are made of beans

-Peanut Butter Millet Buckeyes- not new, but totally worth repeating

So, I go crazy, cook madly for a day, and then don’t want to cook again the rest of the week. Not very balanced, is it?

But since it was for the Oscars, here are the awards we decided to give the food.

Crowd Favorite: The dessert, duh. Chocolate is involved, need I say more?

Best Dressed: Black Bean and Corn Salad. Just look at those colors!

Most Disappointing to the Cook: My husband made the mushrooms and he just couldn’t get over the lack of cheese that he normally stuffs mushrooms with.

Most Original: Landlocked Ceviche. Because, really, when do you ever eat cauliflower? Thank god there was a lot of lime juice. I think the trick is to let it marinate a long, long time. But it’s still got that weird cauliflower toughness.

Most Poop-like: Not in taste. Just looks. You work with beans, you end up with a lot of gooey brown things. Like the Deviled Chickpea Bites.

And the bean balls for the sub that I just couldn’t get to stay in the shape of a ball. They looked like flattened turds.

And as a side note, right before I served this poop-tastic meal, we had our own little kiddo poop-splosion. Nothing like cleaning up poop right before you eat a bunch of beans that look like poop. Kinda circle-of-life-esque isn’t it?

But overall, the food was pretty good. I’ve been eating leftovers all week and I’ve decided the Landlocked Ceviche would actually be a great snack to have on hand. It’s cauliflower, so it’s low calorie–you just have to control your chip consumption with it. But what else does this veggie have going for it?

Cauliflower, do you have any redeeming qualities, besides that you are bland and can pretend to be both mashed potatoes and fish?

Which is creepy.

It truly is a weird veggie–all tough and white. I mean, veggies aren’t white. When I bought it, my son sat there in the cart, poking the cauliflower, very concerned it didn’t move. Like over and over in the store, “Why doesn’t it move mommy?”

And in response to me saying I wasn’t sure I was satisfied with my dish, my friend said, “Yeah cauliflower is tough.” And I didn’t know if she meant texture wise or tough to make it taste good. Because I’m going to go ahead and declare both as true.

I had just assumed that cauliflower, being white and all, must be devoid of any real nutritional value. It must just be carbs.

But here is what my nutrition book shows:

½ cup raw, chopped cauliflower

• 13 calories
• 1g protein
• 3g carbs
• 1g fiber

So yeah, carbs. But a bit of protein and fiber.

This website shows the % of vitamins and minerals. What stood out to me:

For one cup of raw cauliflower:

• 77% of your vitamin C
• 20% of your vitamin K
• 14% of your folate
• 9% of your potassium

So cauliflower, as weird, tough, and bland as you are, you have some stuff going for you.

At least enough to keep torturing you into ceviche or mashed potatoes. Or whatever else…