Friday, April 29, 2011

The puree secret

So far I have been mostly experimenting with pureed vegetables.  For example, I get a head of cauliflower and puree the whole thing.  Well, not all of the stalk, but all of the heads.  It usually needs some water or milk to make it a good hiding consistency.  I don't have any fancy equipment, I just use my blender... and I can tell you right now that if I keep this up I am going to get some fancy equipment!   Anyway, the puree goes in the fridge, ready to be mixed with anything. 

The first thing I made was Campbell's broccoli cheese soup.  Now, let me just say I am not a fan of anything canned, really.  Too much salt, and I feel like you can always tell it's canned.  Yuck.   But, this is sort of the idea... take something and make it much better for us.  Plus I was short on time!  So, I added a cup of cauliflower puree, a cup of extra broccoli (fresh), and half a cup of extra cheese, and it was so good.  The cauliflower made it so much lighter and almost fluffy!  We couldn't taste it at all.  So since we couldn't taste it all, next time I am going to add even more.  :)

I have had success hiding cauliflower in mashed potatoes (one third cauliflower, and we couldn't taste it at all), and also as a sauce (with added spices) for a rice meal. 

This weekend I am going to see if I can pass a spiced cauliflower and cheese puree off as Alfredo sauce... 
my toughest challenge yet.

ps.  I should say that I actually like fresh cauliflower.  I'm not hiding it because I hate it, I started with it because it's white which makes it easy to hide and it's good for us.  

pps.  I also should say that my husband isn't a picky eater, and he is my research team. 

2 comments:

  1. I know you are experimenting, but pureed cauliflower is good mixed with scrambled eggs, too. I'm just curious, did you steam your cauliflower before you pureed it or did you just puree it raw. I used to do this all the time, I have a recipe book, but I've fallen out of the habit. I'm excited to see what you come up with. :) Good luck!! This will be great for your baby, too.

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  2. Hi Elisabeth, yes, I have steamed it, and I have also boiled it before puree (then I don't have to add any water). Eggs! Great idea! I'll have to try it. Thanks!

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