Cauliflower Bread Sticks

To-die-for mock breadsticks made with cauliflower that are low in calories, carbs and fat. I found this AMAZING recipe on-line, tried it for Super Bowl an Boom- its a favorite!Phenomenal low carb alternative to traditional cheesy breadsticks. These cauliflower breadsticks are full of flavor, cheesy and easy. And you can pick them up by hand!  My kids loved them and its hard to believe they come out so well.  Might take you a round to get the hang of it- one tip is to be sure you don't press the mix too thin.  You wan them on the thicker side when you bake!

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, large (7" - 8" wide)
1/4 cup egg whites
1/2 cup + 3/4 cup (for topping) Mozzarella/Tex Mex cheese, shredded
1 tsp Italian herb seasoning or any dried herbs like rosemary, basil, parsley
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of salt
Marinara sauce for dipping

Start with a large head of cauliflower, 7″ – 8″ wide. If you are serving 2 or more people, I recommend do double the recipe. These breadsticks are so good and guilt free, they disappear fast. Chop the cauliflower and process in a food processor until “rice” texture. Do not make a cauliflower mash. Alternatively, if you do not own a food processor, you could chop it really fine or even grate using simple boxed grater.

Place cauliflower in any oven proof baking dish and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees F. Alternatively, you could microwave or steam it. The idea is to cook the cauliflower, so it releases the moisture and we squeeze it out.

Line a bowl with a linen kitchen/tea towel. I used cheap tea towels from a Dollar store. They are called something like glass tea towels and are kind of linen mesh. Much better than cheesecloth as they do not rip and are widely available. You probably have some on hand. 

Then you grab the towel by the corners, holding with one hand just below the corners, and start squeezing the liquid out with another hand. The process will take about 3 – 5 minutes and you should squeeze about 1 cup of liquid. Use a measuring cup as a point of reference. If the liquid is hot, let the cauliflower mash cool down a bit and proceed again.

Here you can see, from right to left: cauliflower “ball” before squeezing, after squeezing and liquid squeezed out.

Open the towel and voila: you got yourself some pretty dry cauliflower. Add seasonings to it as per the recipe. I used egg whites instead of an egg and it worked! Any cheese works. Full or low fat, Mozzarella or Tex Mex or even Parmesan. Use grated or shredded cheese and when measuring do not pack.

After you make the “dough”, transfer it onto any baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The “dough” won’t be sticky and that’s OK. Egg whites and cheese will act as a binder during the baking process.

No need to spray the parchment paper with cooking spray either. The breadsticks won’t stick. More than that, the parchment paper underneath the breadsticks will be moist after baking. And that’s OK too. It doesn’t mean the breadsticks will fall apart. No. The moisture releases during the baking process therefore no need for cooking spray. I was asked before if pizza stone would work and I don’t know as I don’t own one. No idea how to use it.

Form a rectangle, using your hands, approximately 9″ x 7″ in size and 1/4″ thick. Press the “dough” a bit to make it stay together and use spatula to make the edges straight. Do not worry, the egg whites and cheese will bind everything together during the baking process. It won’t fall apart.

And bake. All ovens vary. I own simple electric oven and it took the breadsticks 18 minutes. Just watch it => when you see the “dough” becoming golden brown on top, it’s time to take it out. Then you top the breadsticks with cheese and bake for another 5 minutes until the cheese melts and broil for nice golden brown crust.

Remove the breadsticks from the oven and transfer to a cutting board, holding by the ends of parchment paper. Let the breadsticks cool down for 5 minutes before cutting, if you can. I waited with the first batch and the breadsticks were easy to cut. With the second one I didn’t and it was a bit of a mess. Use serrated/bread knife to cut into 12 breadsticks.

We served ours with marinara sauce- up to you what sides you choose to serve them with!

Another idea is to make these cauliflower breadsticks even lighter in fat by skipping the cheese topping. And that’s what I did with my second batch. Below I have included 2 nutritional information

These cauliflower breadsticks turned out delicious!!! Full of flavor and cheesy. They hit the spot and satisfy the craving without wrecking your daily macros/nutrition. You can have 5 – 6 of these and still have consumed very little calories, fat and carbs. Enjoy!Nutritional Information (no Cheese)Servings 12; Amount Per Serving - 1 Breadstick; Calories: 33.3; Fat:0.9; Cholesterol: 2.5 mg; Sodium 48.4; Total Carbs: 3.8 g; Protein 3.1 g. Nutritional Information (With Cheese) Servings 12; Amount Per Serving - 1 Breadstick; Calories: 53; Fat:2.2; Cholesterol: 6.2 mg; Sodium 107.6; Total Carbs: 3.8 g; Protein 4.9 g. 
Originally posted on iFoodReal.com