Day Five: Super Bowl XLVI Guilt-Free Cauliflower Breadsticks and Pizza

Super Bowl Sunday. A national day of eating, drinking, kicking back with no greater worries than the resolution or size of your flat screen TV, remembering the exact kick-off time (6:29 p.m. EST) and perhaps the Giants/Patriots point spread (not the name of a Super Bowl-themed dip, by the way).

Guilt-free Cauliflower Breadsticks [also can be used as pizza crust!]

• head of cauliflower, grated
• 2 whole eggs, plus two egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup 2% shredded mozzarella cheese (parmesan is superb as well)
• Juice of one lime
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Spice to taste, for example: 1/8 tsp. Tabasco sauce, 1 tsp. dried rosemary leaves, three cloves of garlic, salt to taste, OR try basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro -- you can't really go wrong!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

• Stir ingredients (except the oil) together in a mixing bowl.
• Line an ovenproof baking dish or baking sheet with parchment paper and grease with olive oil.
• Evenly spread the cauliflower batter across the parchment -- about 3/4 inch thick.
• Square the edges and use a spatula to flatten the mixture and divide into rectangles.
• Bake for 40 minutes until firm to the touch, crispy, and browned.
• Remove from oven, peel the paper away from the breadsticks.
• Divide again with spatula. Flip and return to oven for 10 additional minutes.
• Eat the whole plateful if you like -- they total about 400 calories.

I hate to spoil the naughtiness of faux bread heaven for you, but cauliflower is low in fat and carbs, high in fiber and vitamin C -- three florets of cauliflower a day provide 67 percent of one's daily vitamin C requirement. In combination with vitamin E and beta-carotene, vitamin C enhances the immune system.

Cauliflower also contains folate, a B vitamin that promotes healthy tissue growth important to diabetics and patients with blood vessel disease. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), in addition to preventing anemia, folate may also reduce the risk of heart attacks by lowering elevated levels of homocysteine, an amino acid toxic to blood vessels.

Two of cauliflower's ingredients are disease-fighting indole-3-carbinol (aka 13C, an anti-inflammatory) and the photo nutrient sulforaphane. Johns Hopkins researchers have found sulforaphane lowered the occurrence of breast tumors in lab animals by almost 40 percent. It housecleans by sweeping out toxins that could damage cells and turn cancerous. The combination of 13C and sulforaphane reduces high estrogen levels that foster tumor growth, especially in the breasts and the prostate glands.

You know what I especially love about the Super Bowl? It almost single-handedly keeps Roman numerals alive -- a hip-hop fave. The next time you hear from me, we'll have a new champion.
Peace out!

________________________________________________________________________

Megan Parmenter, Yale Heart Study Research Associate, contributed to reporting this blog.

February is American Heart Month. Please take a few minutes to visit the Yale Heart Study site and complete the heart attack survivors survey, or forward it to someone you know who has survived a heart attack. https://heartstudy.yale.edu/hacs/

Questions? Contact [e-mail], visit facebook.com/YaleHeartStudy, or phone me at: 203-785-4872.

Disclosure: Suzanne O'Malley is a Senior Research Associate for the non-profit NIH-funded Yale Heart Study, a Faculty member of the Yale Writers' Conference & Associate/Director of Yale Summer Film Institute.

For more by Suzanne O'Malley, click here.

For more on personal health, click here.

 

Follow Suzanne O'Malley on Twitter: www.twitter.com/YaleHearts

Comments

[Sara Delarosa]

08:29 PM on 02/09/2012

This is in my oven now!! Next can you post a low-carb sugar free brownie recipe???:)

[Suzanne O'Malley]

04:07 AM on 02/12/2012

Thanks! Brownies going on my "to do" list!

Feb 12 and Feb 13 we do have two great new low cal/heart healthy recipes

[TheEthicalNag]

09:24 AM on 02/08/2012

Oh my! I just found another great cauli recipe ("Cauliflower Noodle Lasagna") on Jamie's must-see website http://yourlighterside.com/low-carb-lasagna-with-noodles-layers-of-italian-delight-in-every-bite/ THIS I have to try - it doesn't have to be crispy, right? Yay! :-)

[Suzanne O'Malley]

02:56 PM on 02/08/2012

Excellent!

[Suzanne O'Malley]

03:08 PM on 02/08/2012

It doesn't have to be crispy! I just like crispy things.

[TheEthicalNag]

09:17 AM on 02/08/2012

Okay, I baked these last night. The results: not "crispy and browned" - more like limp and sponge-y. Help!

When I read Jamie's original recipe just now, however - http://you­rlightersi­de.com/rec­ipes/recip­e-the-orig­inal-cauli­flower-piz­za-dough-2­/ - I see that she does not grate RAW cauliflower, as I did. Wonder if this makes the difference? They smelled absolutely wonderful while baking (I too added basil, rosemary, garlic) but the end result was not crispy at all. Any advice?

PS I am going to try making Jamie's twice-baked cauli pizza.

[Suzanne O'Malley]

03:06 PM on 02/08/2012

try schmushing [a fancy cuisine term :-)] the batter down til it's really, really flat.

wouldn't cook it first and then cook again if you want to keep the max nutritional value.

I'm out of cauliflower at the moment, but will experiment with crunchiness and let you know.!

[DrP]

09:56 PM on 02/05/2012

What a great recipe! I will have to try it. I've been using cauliflower instead of potatoes for years, but never to make a "bread" substitute. I don't care a fig about fat and calories, but don't eat sugar, grains, or starches, so this is a perfect recipe for me if I use full-fat cheese.

[Suzanne O'Malley]

04:11 AM on 02/06/2012

Hi Dr. P,
Go for it!

I actually used full-fat cheese in the breadsticks' illustration. I'm looking forward to seeing how thin I can get the crust when making a tomato, basil & mozzarella pizza!

[Miranda Jacobs]

06:08 PM on 02/05/2012

Way to STEAL someone else's work and recipes!! At least credit your source!

[Suzanne O'Malley]

03:38 AM on 02/06/2012

Hi Miranda Jacobs,
You are certainly right about crediting sources. Sorry you feel that someone has stolen your recipe.

I'm sorry to say, I'm not familiar with your cooking or your recipes. Perhaps you should send your website or book info so other readers can check out your work. Thanks for commenting.

SO

[Neil Calkin]

05:39 PM on 02/05/2012

I'm giving this a try right now: they are in the oven with ten minutes to go before I flip them, and they smell wonderful!

[Neil Calkin]

12:07 AM on 02/06/2012

They were good:-) Now I'm trying to figure out how best to crisp up the leftovers tomorrow: I'm thinking five minutes on a rack in a 350 oven, rather than the microwave.... Any thoughts?

[Suzanne O'Malley]

03:23 AM on 02/06/2012

Thanks, Neil,
Yes, definitely the oven! Depending on how crispy you like them, you might go to 375 or 400. SO

[Suzanne O'Malley]

03:40 AM on 02/06/2012

Definitely the oven. Depending on how crispy you want them, I might even heat the oven to 375 or 400. [I like crispy!]. Thanks for giving it a try and nice chatting with you. SO

[Suzanne O'Malley]

03:19 AM on 02/06/2012

Great!

[Jamie Saal VanEaton]

05:34 PM on 02/05/2012

Hi there! how cool that you're featuring take offs of the original recipes, but the process seems super oversimplified. Here are the original recipes. I think they tend to turn out better when prepared originally, because the process is slightly different. As an example, the bread sticks should be thicker like bread, and the crust should be thin but still able to be handled. It's fun seeing how my recipes have been tweaked and changed over time! Thanks for featuring these. : http://yourlighterside.com/recipes/recipe-the-original-cauliflower-pizza-dough-2/ and http://yourlighterside.com/recipes/low-carb-breadsticks-recipe/

In cauli dough,
Fondly,
Jamie

[Melinda Mercer]

08:07 PM on 02/05/2012

The original recipe rocks my face everytime!!

[Suzanne O'Malley]

04:01 AM on 02/06/2012

Hi Melinda,

What is the "original" recipe? I'm curious. And keep on rocking your face! SO

[DrP]

10:00 PM on 02/05/2012

It's great this came from your low-carb website. It is unusual for Huffpo to have an article that features something from the low-carb "world." Maybe lost of people will follow the link to your website and learn about the real way to eat!

[Suzanne O'Malley]

03:52 AM on 02/06/2012

Hi DrP,
Er...I don't have a low-carb website. But I do sometimes give low-carb and heart healthy tips at.https://www.facebook.com/YaleHeartStudy. Jimmy Moore at http://www.livinlavidalowcarb.com/ has been very helpful to the NIH-funded Yale Heart Study where I am working with others to improve heart health and reduce mortality. I do TRY to follow a low-carb diet. Thanks so much for writing. SO

[OneManRoaring]

09:42 AM on 02/05/2012

OK, this sounds like something I might like to try. What size baking sheet/pan would be suggested?

[Suzanne O'Malley]

02:50 PM on 02/05/2012

Hi One Lion Roaring,
I used the 2" deep standard 13 x 9 inch oblong Pyrex dish. A medium-size cookie sheet (12x16 inches) would be fine. I made the parmesan version with basil, rosemary, garlic and a sprinkle of pepper. A "foodie" friend of mine said there is no way she could have guessed she was eating cauliflower. Thanks for writing. Let me know how it goes! SO