Cauliflower Chicken Casserole with Spinach Bechamel

This is a hoity-toity take on the classic noodle casserole, which I love to eat, but hate to have to work off at the gym. And since I really loathe the gym, I decided to try a healthier version. Now, this isn't exactly diet food, and you will still need to watch your portions, but it's not made from canned fatty soup, and it doesn't contain 2 cups of cheese. So it's a lot lower in fat and sodium, and has plenty of vegetables. The best part is that it's truly a complete meal in one dish.

1 head cauliflower, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 pkg chopped spinach, thawed
2 chicken cutlets, off bone, no skin, cut into bite-size pieces
1 small onion, peeled
5 - 8 whole cloves
1/4 cup butter or olive oil
1/4 cup flour
2 cups lowfat or skim milk
1/3 bag egg noodles, cooked to very al dente
1 cup cheddar cheese (can use lowfat cheese)
salt and black pepper to taste

First, make the bechamel this way: Preheat oven to 350. Melt the butter (or heat the oil) in an oven-proof saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and make a nice, toasty roux. Whisk in the milk until smooth. Stick the cloves into the onion and then place the whole onion into the milk sauce. Place the saucepan into the oven and let thicken about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute the chicken in a drizzle of olive oil until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. In same pan, saute the spinach and season with salt. Set aside. Cook the egg noodles and drain. You can use the same water to boil the cauliflower, about 5-7 minutes, until tender-crisp.

To assemble: When the bechamel is done, remove the onion and discard. Stir in the sauteed spinach until evenly distributed throughout the sauce. Then, in a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except for HALF the cheddar cheese. Add freshly ground black pepper and more salt to taste. Pour chicken mixture into a lightly greased casserole pan and push down into corners and smooth the top. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake 35 minutes at 350.

I'm planning to make this again tomorrow night, and will put up photos then. In the meantime, enjoy!

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

As usual, I have lots of random veggies in the fridge and no plan of how to prepare them, or for what part of the meal. Since we are going away for about a week, I wanted to use them up before they rot, and a veggie-rich spaghetti sauce is the best way to do that. However, cauliflower does not go well in red sauce, so I had to come up with something else. I was reading the New York Times and saw a recipe for cabbage soup that looked good, so I adapted it for cauliflower. It came out very well, and is very comforting without being too heavy.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, grated
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 russet potato, grated
about 1/4 cup water
1 quart veggie broth
2 cups low-fat or skim milk
3/4 cup grated Manchego
1/2 tsp celery seed
salt and pepper


First, in a small dutch oven, saute the onion in the oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the potato, and drizzle enough water to prevent the potato from sticking to the bottom. Cook about 3 minutes. Add the chopped cauliflower and the veggie broth. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook covered about 30 minutes. You want to make sure that the cauliflower is thoroughly cooked so that it is soft.

Remove cover, add milk, cheese, celery seed, and salt and pepper to taste. Using an immersion blender, process thoroughly until there are no chunks and the texture is smooth. This should not take longer than about 3 minutes.

Taste again, and add more salt & pepper as needed. If you like the slightly smoky, dark vegetal flavor of celery seed, by all means add a bit more. It is one of my favorite spices (if a seed can really be considered a "spice"), and I am trying to incorporate it into more recipes lately...