CAULIFLOWER CHEESE CASSEROLE

My favourite veggie side dishes as a kid were Stouffer’s spinach soufflé, Green Giant corn niblets in butter sauce and Green Giant’s cauliflower and broccoli in cheese sauce. My memory of the last one was crisp-tender broccoli and cauliflower in a pool of melted cheese-whiz-like-sauce, which now as I type this out doesn’t sound as appetizing as it tasted but trying to find veggie recipes for my kids to eat have moved to another level. I tried to make a spinach soufflé to which the kids looked at in horror and thus began their aversion to anything green. I tried opening a can of niblets and adding them to a butter sauce but the kids didn’t wont to eat corn without the cob and finally I made a cauliflower cheese casserole (had to remove the broccoli from the equation since they are still avoiding all things green), and this turned out to be a home run. This recipe is a truly delicious, grown up version of the Green Giant’s cauliflower in ‘cheese whiz’ sauce, with a silky cheddar sauce, crisp-tender cauliflower and a crusty golden topping. This is such an easy dish and comes together quickly. Two notes: double the recipe and freeze half so it’s ready to pop in the oven next time and if you don’t have fresh cauliflower, feel free to use frozen. If you have a hard time getting your kids to eat veggies, this is a must try (in our house we call it cauliflower in mac-and-cheese-sauce casserole).

For the casserole

1 lg. cauliflower broken into florets

1 1/4 cups milk

3 Tbsp flour

4 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

5 oz. old white cheddar cheese, grated and divided

For the topping

3 oz. old white cheddar cheese, grated and divided

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 450F. Spray a 9x9 pyrex dish with baking spray.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook florets until crisp tender. Remove to strainer and run under cold water to stop from cooking further. Spread at bottom of prepared dish.

In a medium saucepan add milk butter and flour, whisking constantly until mixture is smooth, thickens and comes to a boil; continue whisking 2 minutes more.

Remove from heat and add mustard powder, salt, pepper and cheese; pour sauce over cauliflower.

Mix breadcrumbs with remaining cheese and sprinkle over top.

Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Remove from oven and set aside a few minutes before serving.