Bite Of Minnesota: Cheddar Cauliflower Bites Recipe

By Crystal Grobe

It seems that the cauliflower trend has really exploded, as shown by the news that Trader Joe's had to limit bags of its popular cauliflower rice to 2 per person in a couple of their store locations. Personally, I'm loving the trend. It's a versatile ingredient, but mostly prepared one of two ways: steamed or raw. I've had my fill of both and was excited to move on to other ways of making cauliflower like roasting with flavorful spices or mashing with blue cheese and cream.

Most recently though, I've been obsessed with cauliflower crust pizza, cauliflower rice and as of this weekend, these Cheddar Cauliflower Bites. After finding that I bought too much at the market (again), I was looking for a new way to use up the remaining 3 cups of riced cauliflower in the fridge and thought this would be perfect. It's similar to the pizza crust recipe using riced cauliflower, eggs, spice and cheese, but tastes completely different. In fact, I think it's a pretty good copy of those cheesy hash brown potatoes Minnesotans go crazy for. But of course, with cauliflower instead of potatoes.

We gobbled up all 12 of these in 48 hours, most of them straight from the oven and the rest reheated slightly in the microwave. Next time I'll try these in a mini muffin tin for a more bite-sized snack. I use my food processer to "rice" my cauliflower, but you can also use a cheese grater or buy pre-riced cauliflower at Trader Joe's. Be sure to use it within a few days to preserve the freshness. If you're doing the paleo thing, go ahead and use coconut or almond flour instead of regular flour.

Cheddar Cauliflower Bites

Makes 12

• 3 cups riced cauliflower
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a muffin pan using cooking spray or oil. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine cauliflower, butter, eggs, and cheese and mix well. Add flour, baking powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper and stir well to combine and distribute all ingredients evenly.

Using an ice cream scoop or a large spoon, divide mixture between muffin cups and press down firmly. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden. If using a mini-muffin tin, check for doneness around the 20 minute mark. Let cool slightly and use a knife to loosen from pan. Serve warm with additional salt and pepper as desired.