Making Dinner: Cauliflower Tortillas

POSTED BY: Stefanie LaSalle

We try to use up what we have in our fridge and pantry before going grocery shopping. We hate wasting food. Forcing ourselves to use what we have on hand has made us pretty creative in the kitchen.

Being lazy also makes us creative.

HUNGRY + LAZY = CAULIFLOWER QUESADILLAS

You're probably saying "Cauliflower WHAAAAAAA-...?" Tortillas?! Quesadillas?! WTF?

I saw this recipe over at the website Slim Palate.

All the recipes I found online called for fresh cauliflower, but all I had was a bag of frozen cauliflower in the freezer. I was afraid that it might get mushy, but it actually worked out pretty well. 

Empty the frozen florets into a microwave safe bowl and heat for about two minutes, just to defrost them a bit. Then use a FOOD PROCESSOR (we have one now, thanks to Matt and Krista!) and pulse it until it looks like the picture above.

Once it's all nice and "riced", heat in the microwave for two minutes, stir, and back into the microwave for a final two minutes.

Time to SQUEEZE. You want put the cauliflower onto a cheesecloth or thin dishtowel, and squeeze out as much water as possible. NOTE: the cauliflower is HOT. Use a tool or dish washing gloves to protect your hands.

Mix together 2 eggs, salt, pepper, a splash of lime juice and the cauliflower. Now you can use a spoon or scoop and make circles of the mixture on a baking sheet. I felt the batter was a little thin, so as an experiment, I scooped two tortillas onto the sheet, then added about 1/4 cup all-purpose flour to the remaining batter to thicken it a bit. If your intention is to go gluten-free, then don't be spooked by the thin batter - it will set when baked. 

This will make 6 mini tortillas.

Bake the tortillas in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes. Then carefully flip all the tortillas and bake for another 5-7 minutes until set and golden brown. Move them to a cooling rack.

I have a whole bag of jalapenos in the fridge that I'm trying to use up, which is what gave me the idea for quesadillas in the first place. I also had a bit of leftover cheese (cheddar and mozzarella), and quarter of a tomato. I completely forgot to defrost a meat from the freezer this morning, so I opened a can of chicken (in water) and used about a quarter of the can (for two quesadillas).

Can you hear the mozzarella cubes sizzling?

Once you put all the fillin's, top it off with another "tortilla". When it's crispy, flip and wait for it all to melt together.

Which one is better - flour or flour-less?

I was pleasantly surprised with how well these turned out. I've been seeing lots of creative cauliflower recipes online lately - everything from pizza crust to rice - but I was skeptical how they would hold together.

I preferred the tortillas with the added flour. They were more substantial and soft and tortilla-like. However, if you are gluten-free, the flour-less version was good as well. It was more egg-y, and tasted like an omelet. If I were to make it flour-less again, I would use more cauliflower to thicken the batter. Or maybe this is where the freshness of the cauliflower makes a difference.

The whole process took a lot less time then I thought it would. Ricing and squeezing cauliflower sounds involved, but it really didn't take me any longer to make this meal than it usually takes.

Happy Friday everyone!!!