Using cauliflower to replace carbs (Pizza, mashed potatos, tacos)
sb41288
Posts: 23 Member
So I have switched to a low carb lifestyle due to insulin resistance and hypothyroidism. I honestly miss breads and french fries. I eat no more than 1/2 a cup of brown rice maybe 1 to 2 times a week and get most of my carbs from beans and non-starchy vegies.
I seen a recipe for cauliflower pizza crust, I plan to try this out, has anyone ever tried it, and what does it really taste like? The same recipe also seems to be able to make "taco shells". From my experience using cauliflower to make mock "mashed potatoes" it really was not the best thing ever.
So, my question is besides using cauliflower to create mock bread items, is there another way to still enjoy eating things like tacos or nachos, or pizza? Are there any other low carb/no carb substitutes to use to make these types of foods?
I seen a recipe for cauliflower pizza crust, I plan to try this out, has anyone ever tried it, and what does it really taste like? The same recipe also seems to be able to make "taco shells". From my experience using cauliflower to make mock "mashed potatoes" it really was not the best thing ever.
So, my question is besides using cauliflower to create mock bread items, is there another way to still enjoy eating things like tacos or nachos, or pizza? Are there any other low carb/no carb substitutes to use to make these types of foods?
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The answer here will be: just build it in to you calories.
So ignore that answer.
My answer: I love cauliflower pizza and mushroom cap pizzas, and tortilla pizzas. Do they taste like "real" pizza? Not really.
Nachos? no idea.
Tacos? My favorite restaurant uses jicama as a shell. Those were awesome too.
Seems to require a particular kitchen tool to make the shell.
My grocery store sells low carb tortillas, those might help.0 -
What about crustless pizza? I have bought frozen pizzas and scraped the toppings off and threw the crust away in a pinch.
I have made cauliflower crust pizza with cream cheese and parmesan and I think an egg. It wasn't amazing and was more of just a way to hold the toppings. It was too moist (draining cauliflower is key and I must have not done it good enough). I have also heard of a recipe using no cream cheese but I have not tried it yet. Going crustless is the better choice IMO.
I have seen Pinterest recipes where you bake pepperonis and put nacho toppings on it. Have not tried it but I'm sure anything with pepperoni is delicious.
Good luck! You might want to get out the "Low Carber Daily Forum" group. There are lots of pinned items that might help you.0 -
There apparently are low carb wraps you can find. I have no clue how tasty they are. I suspect you could make room in your weekly carbs for a few tacos, as the only carb there is from the tortilla (and, if you substitute a lower carb wrapper, you'd have very few carbs at all).
But personally, I would just learn to appreciate other foods and allot for things like pizza as the occasional treat. I just think you'll be happier at the end of the day eating foods that are inherently low in carbs, rather than trying to turn cauliflower into wheat and eating imitation baked goods.0 -
So, my question is besides using cauliflower to create mock bread items, is there another way to still enjoy eating things like tacos or nachos, or pizza? Are there any other low carb/no carb substitutes to use to make these types of foods?
It depends on your carb restriction, but I suspect not.
What I do when I want something that doesn't fit in my calories (or which I don't care to make fit) is to try and figure out what about it is what I am hungry for. Often there's a way to get the combination of flavors in another way that works as well.
For example, I've found that I can enjoy a deconstructed taco, with all the taco filling as a salad or stir fry kind of thing or as stuffing for a winter squash, maybe, without missing at all the tortilla. (I'm not low carb, but for me it ends up seeming like a lot of extra calories without adding that much.)0 -
No. I eat what I want, in moderation. If I want pizza, I have pizza...but 1-2 slices instead of a half a large pizza like I used to eat. I have found over much trial and error that if I try to deprive or make poor substitutions (such as cauliflower for pizza. Why god, why?!
), I will fail miserably in the long run. So eat what you like, make it fit your calorie and macro goals, and for the love of god, stop the cauliflower madness. It is not a substitute for anything ever. 0 -
redheaddee wrote: »and for the love of god, stop the cauliflower madness. It is not a substitute for anything ever.
hahaha my thoughts exactly
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »The answer here will be: just build it in to you calories.
So ignore that answer.
My answer: I love cauliflower pizza and mushroom cap pizzas, and tortilla pizzas. Do they taste like "real" pizza? Not really.
Nachos? no idea.
Tacos? My favorite restaurant uses jicama as a shell. Those were awesome too.
Seems to require a particular kitchen tool to make the shell.
My grocery store sells low carb tortillas, those might help.
Do they cook the jicama? I would imagine it being so brittle that if you used it raw and tried to bend the taco it would just break. But, that's a super intriguing idea.
I'm contemplating a cauliflower crust pizza mostly because I want to be able to put sausage and a fair amount of cheese and still be able to eat half the pizza. Like you, I tried cauliflower "mashed potatoes" (my aunt was doing atkins years ago), and I was not a fan. I have seen a few recipes for broccoli crust, and I love broccoli, so I might try that. My biggest inhibitor right now is that I don't currently have a food processor that functions. :sad:0 -
^^^^Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »The answer here will be: just build it in to you calories.
So ignore that answer.
My answer: I love cauliflower pizza and mushroom cap pizzas, and tortilla pizzas. Do they taste like "real" pizza? Not really.
Nachos? no idea.
Tacos? My favorite restaurant uses jicama as a shell. Those were awesome too.
Seems to require a particular kitchen tool to make the shell.
My grocery store sells low carb tortillas, those might help.
(*) (*) (*) THIS - BIG TIME (*) (*) (*)
Don't let anybody impugn your efforts to clean up your diet. Anything we can do to shift the odds of success is a step in the right direction. These small changes add up over time.
Best Wishes To You!
PS: I hate cauliflower...lol
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I like "tumaro" and "la tortilla factory" wraps
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^^^^^^^^^^^Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »The answer here will be: just build it in to you calories.
So ignore that answer.
My answer: I love cauliflower pizza and mushroom cap pizzas, and tortilla pizzas. Do they taste like "real" pizza? Not really.
Nachos? no idea.
Tacos? My favorite restaurant uses jicama as a shell. Those were awesome too.
Seems to require a particular kitchen tool to make the shell.
My grocery store sells low carb tortillas, those might help.
(*) (*) (*) THIS - BIG TIME (*) (*) (*)
Don't let anybody impugn your efforts to clean up your diet. Anything we can do to shift the odds of success is a step in the right direction. These small changes add up over time.
Best Wishes To You!
PS: I hate cauliflower...lol
Yeh, except cauliflower and broccoli (vile weed). The exceptions that make the rule.0 -
the jicama taco shell intrigued me for the same reason everyone else is questioning it, how does it not break in half. found this for anyone interested, it requires a mandolin slicer:
http://zenbellycatering.com/2012/01/27/taco-night-with-secret-never-browns-guacamole-recipe/0 -
redheaddee wrote: »No. I eat what I want, in moderation. If I want pizza, I have pizza...but 1-2 slices instead of a half a large pizza like I used to eat. I have found over much trial and error that if I try to deprive or make poor substitutions (such as cauliflower for pizza. Why god, why?! ), I will fail miserably in the long run. So eat what you like, make it fit your calorie and macro goals, and for the love of god, stop the cauliflower madness. It is not a substitute for anything ever.
I feel like people are ignoring that the OP has a medical reason why she can't just eat carbs in moderation...0 -
The best thing I had replacing pizza crust was using zucchini for the crust. No, it wasn't bread but it did taste good. I'm also a big fan of using a vegetable spiralizer to replace pasta with squash, sweet potato, etc. I do still eat noodles too, but this is a good way to add veggies my kids will actually eat. Plus, I love spaghetti squash with a poached egg, diced ham, peas, and some shaved parmesan on top. That's my go to for meatless Mondays.0
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Cauliflower is carbs. You're replacing simple carbs with complex carbs, but they're all carbs.
I've been on maintenance the last few months which really simplifies things, but all along I've eaten pretty much whatever I wanted to eat, if I really wanted it. Over time I just learned to fill up on "good" things throughout most of the day, and I learned to stop and think about cravings before deciding whether or not I'd give in to them.0 -
They have some low carb flour tortillas Mission brand that are decent, works out to around 6 net carbs per tortilla. I've used that as a base for pizza and also chopped one up and baked it until crisp for nachos, and of course as a taco shell.
It's still a treat to use this though, because while it's "low carb" my results don't reflect that it should be an everyday thing for me. I have similar health issues as you, and have noticed the further away I stay from carbs the better. When I start adding in stuff with fake sugars and weird fibers my results aren't as good. Lots of veggies, a decent serving of protein, works the best for me on a regular basis. Good luck!!0 -
I just found this. The using thin slices of butternut squash sounds super lazy and tasty, which would be nice. But, I'm super intrigued by the sweet potato crust (although sweet potatos may not work for you).
http://empoweredsustenance.com/paleo-pizza-crusts/0 -
redheaddee wrote: »No. I eat what I want, in moderation. If I want pizza, I have pizza...but 1-2 slices instead of a half a large pizza like I used to eat. I have found over much trial and error that if I try to deprive or make poor substitutions (such as cauliflower for pizza. Why god, why?! ), I will fail miserably in the long run. So eat what you like, make it fit your calorie and macro goals, and for the love of god, stop the cauliflower madness. It is not a substitute for anything ever.
I feel like people are ignoring that the OP has a medical reason why she can't just eat carbs in moderation...
Yes, which is the only reason.0 -
enterdanger wrote: »The best thing I had replacing pizza crust was using zucchini for the crust. No, it wasn't bread but it did taste good. I'm also a big fan of using a vegetable spiralizer to replace pasta with squash, sweet potato, etc. I do still eat noodles too, but this is a good way to add veggies my kids will actually eat. Plus, I love spaghetti squash with a poached egg, diced ham, peas, and some shaved parmesan on top. That's my go to for meatless Mondays.
I will add, that I have had the zucchini crust and I love it. Before I go any further, I will add, I eat regular pizza but we sometimes look for different options. I am so glad we do, because like I said, we actually really like the zucchini crust. It is kind of a pain to make, but I think worth it.
On the other hand, we tried cauliflower crust and yuck!!!! is the only response. We do however replace rice periodically with cauliflower. My wife has a lime cilantro recipe she uses and it is a good replacement. For the most part I eat regular brown rice, but will occasionally have the cauliflower.
ETA: Whoever came up with the replacement of cauliflower for mashed potatoes needs to be committed to an asylum. GROSS!!!!! Not even close to the real thing.
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Cauliflower is carbs. You're replacing simple carbs with complex carbs, but they're all carbs.
I've been on maintenance the last few months which really simplifies things, but all along I've eaten pretty much whatever I wanted to eat, if I really wanted it. Over time I just learned to fill up on "good" things throughout most of the day, and I learned to stop and think about cravings before deciding whether or not I'd give in to them.
Yes cauliflower has carbs but it's meniscal compared to grains. I can eat lots of cauliflower and my insulin will not jump anywhere near it would, if I ate a slice of bread.
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Cauliflower is carbs. You're replacing simple carbs with complex carbs, but they're all carbs.
I've been on maintenance the last few months which really simplifies things, but all along I've eaten pretty much whatever I wanted to eat, if I really wanted it. Over time I just learned to fill up on "good" things throughout most of the day, and I learned to stop and think about cravings before deciding whether or not I'd give in to them.
HOWEVER, with insulin resistance the type of carb DOES matter.
The first line of the OP says "due to insulin resistance and hypothyroidism".
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This is not something I would have ever made myself, but my good friend was diagnosed with celiac disease, so she made us a cauliflower crust pizza one night.
While it was *not* pizza, it was, in fact, delicious! She has made it a whole bunch, so maybe she has perfected the recipe, but her crust was crunchy, cheesy, delicousness. So, I say, try it. You might like it!0 -
I'm not sure about all the recipes out there, but I've tried making the cauliflower pizza crust from Cooking With Jax, and I agree with those who have tried it; it definitely doesn't make up for the delicious, carby breadiness of a real pizza crust, but it's a nice vehicle for the toppings.
It doesn't taste TOO cauliflowery if you make sure to add plenty of parmesan cheese to the dough (I don't like my pizza to taste like cauliflower,so it was worth the extra calories!), and definitely make sure to drain the cauliflower well! On the bright side, I was able to eat half of a very large pizza for just 500 calories with that crust, lol!
ETA: Also, about the low carb wraps: I've tried the Tumaro ones, and they're delicious with fillings! Without adequate fillings, they taste like cardboard, but once you fill them you don't taste that. For soft-shell tacos, I would definitely recommend! 0 -
I've used cauliflower to make pizza crust before.. I wouldn't really call it pizza but it was pretty good. You definetly couldn't pick up a slice but it tasted like pizza minus the chewy crust (which is obviously the best part).
I've had more success using cauliflower as a rice replacement. If you don't over cook it the texture can be sort of like rice and I usually eat it under chili or some other kind of stew so it's not to noticeable.
I used to cut out all carbs like rice and potatoes and bread but I really craved it and didn't have any medical reason not to eat it so now I just try to eat those things in moderation because I know leaving them out of my diet all together was not sustainable in the long run.
Good luck!0 -
redheaddee wrote: »No. I eat what I want, in moderation. If I want pizza, I have pizza...but 1-2 slices instead of a half a large pizza like I used to eat. I have found over much trial and error that if I try to deprive or make poor substitutions (such as cauliflower for pizza. Why god, why?! ), I will fail miserably in the long run. So eat what you like, make it fit your calorie and macro goals, and for the love of god, stop the cauliflower madness. It is not a substitute for anything ever.
I feel like people are ignoring that the OP has a medical reason why she can't just eat carbs in moderation...
Nope. My brother is diabetic, eats carbs in moderation. Like I said, if it fits your calorie and MACROS goals (of which carbohydrates is one). I feel like people are ignoring the entirely of what was written.
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I know that this thread is about cauliflower (or something completely off-topic lol) but I wanted to put in a plug for zucchini lasagna (skinnytaste has a good recipe). It's a great way to get some veggies in and tastes awesome. My kids even love it!!0
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Google "Meatza" 0
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I don't know about anyone else, but I've been putting califlower (actually it's called Normandy blend) in some soups lately and Omg the califlower breaks up like rice. It's divine!
I'd like to try the pizza once, see what it's like!
Ive found that taco salad is really good. If I put all the things that I normally would on nachos....like olives, good salsa, and sourcream...I sometimes don't miss the chips!
Bahahah and for the humor of it....you could always try those weaved bacon crusts! I've never done it but drool everytime I see them.0 -
redheaddee wrote: »redheaddee wrote: »No. I eat what I want, in moderation. If I want pizza, I have pizza...but 1-2 slices instead of a half a large pizza like I used to eat. I have found over much trial and error that if I try to deprive or make poor substitutions (such as cauliflower for pizza. Why god, why?! ), I will fail miserably in the long run. So eat what you like, make it fit your calorie and macro goals, and for the love of god, stop the cauliflower madness. It is not a substitute for anything ever.
I feel like people are ignoring that the OP has a medical reason why she can't just eat carbs in moderation...
Nope. My brother is diabetic, eats carbs in moderation. Like I said, if it fits your calorie and MACROS goals (of which carbohydrates is one). I feel like people are ignoring the entirely of what was written.
I'm not sure basic IIFYM is the best advice for someone with hypothyroidism and IR. Types of carbs can matter, meal composition can matter, etc. Flexible eating is fine but since when did it become the cure to every problem?0 -
Google "Paleo/Primal/Clean-eating [thing you want to eat]" and find a zillion ways to enjoy the things you miss for a fraction of the carbs. I always have coconut, garbanzo bean, and almond flours on hand.
I make a cauliflower pizza crust with coconut flour, eggs, and nutritional yeast. It's very flavorful and super low in calories and carbs. Haters gonna hate, but vegetable substitutes help me get more veggies and keep me on track.
For nachos, I've heard of people using pork rinds. You could use plantain chips though they have a few more carbs.
I also think sprouted grain breads and tortillas are ok for insulin resistance. I always have a loaf of Ezekiel bread in the house.0
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