Goat Cheese Cauliflower Bake |Cooking With Amanda

In my 24 years on this earth I have learned that there are only a few things that you can count on to be 100% true. Always:

Peanut Butter + a spoon fixes all wounds, broken hearts and bad days.
It's always 5 o'clock somewhere (read: anytime Is a good time for a margarita)
Cheese also has the ability to cure all wounds, broken hearts and bad days.

Maybe they're cousins?

And finally, and this is one that I have just recently learned: 4. Cauliflower is the "Super Man" of vegetables.

Or woman. I'm an equal opportunity cauliflower-ist.

Anyway.

It makes amazing pizza crust, rice AND mashed potatoes. Is there anything that this boring looking, white, vegetal delight can't do? Methinks not.

Now, I don't know about you, but I HATE with a capital HATE making side dishes for dinner. If I could just eat a piece of plain chicken every day for always, I would be one happy lady. And, yes, I will allow you to judge me for having the most boring taste-buds of any food blogger to ever exist.

But, there's a story behind this here side dish (that I am totally, utterly and completely in LURVE WITH by the way).

It was one of THOSE days. You know those days when you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed for absolutely no reason. The days where the just want to throw rocks at the happy-sounding birds chirping outside your window.

Until you realize that you would have to pay for a broken window and your day would go from bad >>> MEGA bad.

Eventually it was time to make dinner. I became grumpier at the thought of having to make something besides a piece of chicken. So, I pondered the few keys facts in life that I knew I could count on. I had no peanut butter. So that was off the list.

How-ev-er, what I did have was a head of cauliflower and a whole lot of goat cheese. Bright light!

Into the food processor went the aforementioned suspects. Along with some turkey bacon. ß That was a good idea.

And, when it came out of the oven and I dug into its soft, creamy and oh-so-cheesy deliciousness, well, my day? It became the best. Day. Ever.

P.s Are you wondering where "it's always 5 o'clock somewhere" was when I was pondering my list?

I'll give you 1 guess.

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Goat Cheese Cauliflower Bake Recipe

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Ingredients

1 large head cauliflower, chopped (4 cups chopped)
2 strips turkey bacon
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
6 ounces goat cheese, divided (3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons reduced fat cream cheese, softened
salt and pepper, to taste
green onion, sliced, for garnish

Directions

Heat your oven to 400°F and spray 4 ramekins with cooking spray.
Place the chopped cauliflower into a large bowl and microwave for 5 minutes. Stir and microwave for an additional 5 minutes.
While the cauliflower cooks, heat a small pan on medium heat and cook the turkey bacon until golden brown, about 2-3minutes per side. Once cooked, cut into small pieces and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in an additional small pan on medium/high heat and cook the onion and garlic until golden brown and soft, just 2-3 minutes.
Transfer the cooked cauliflower into a large food processor and add in 4 oz of the goat cheese (1/2 cup), the cream cheese and the cooked onions. Process until well mixed and almost totally smooth, keeping a few chunks in for texture.
Transfer the cauliflower mixture to a medium bowl and stir in the sliced bacon and mix until evenly distributed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Divide the cauliflower evenly between the ramekins and crumble the remaining goat cheese on top.
Bake until the top just begins to brown, about 20 minutes. Garnish with green onion and serve.