Cauliflower "Potato" Salad ♥ Low-Carb, Low-Cal Light "Potato" Salad

Potato salad made not with potatoes, but with cauliflower so a great choice for low-carb for dieters and diabetics -- and anyone who just loves cauliflower! Weight Watchers? You are going to love this salad!

When my friend Lyn from the poignant and inspiring weight loss blog "Escape from Obesity" posted a recipe for Low Carb "Potato" Salad last year, a light went on. Wow -- cauliflower just might be a dieter's best friend.

Cauliflower has virtually no calories; it's easily available year-round; pound for pound, it's an inexpensive vegetable. But most of all, cooked cauliflower creates a creamy mouthfeel that's akin to both potatoes and rice, so can either substitute for potatoes or rice or supplement potatoes or rice for a lower-calorie, lower-carb dish. Without realizing, I've collected several of these "potato" and "rice" dishes that aren't made with either potato or rice but instead with cauliflower. There's the Cauliflower Spanish "Rice" from A Veggie Venture and Cauliflower Mashed "Potatoes" from Kitchen Parade.

For this Cauliflower "Potato" Salad, I just adapted my Mom's Potato Salad recipe, so if you have a favorite potato salad recipe, try your own with cauliflower instead.

Now here's a word to the wise. I loved this salad but it really "isn't" potato salad. When I served it first at a birthday party and later at a cookout, there were lots of leftovers: no one was "fooled" and people who don't like cauliflower won't like this salad. So my advice would be to love it for its own sake, not as cauliflower masquerading as potatoes.

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CAULIFLOWER "POTATO" SALAD

Hands-on time: 40 minutes
Time to table: 40 minutes but like potato salad, improves after sitting for 2 - 24 hours
Makes about 6 cups

EGGS
3 hard-cooked eggs (Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs, make an extra egg or two for garnishing the top if you like)

CAULIFLOWER
1 large head of cauliflower, washed and outer leaves trimmed off
Water as needed
Salt to taste but be generous

DRESSING
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/3 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 generous tablespoon good mustard
2 tablespoons sweet relish

TO COMBINE
Cooked cauliflower
Hard-cooked eggs, roughly chopped or mashed with a fork
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1/2 a large onion, chopped fine or grated with a box cutter
3 ribs celery, chopped on the diagonal
Fresh herbs, dill is great, oregano is good too
Salt & pepper to taste

TO GARNISH
A sprig of fresh herbs, optional
Cooked egg, cut into halves or thirds, optional

EGGS If needed, cook the eggs.

CAULIFLOWER Grate the cauliflower on the large holes of a box cutter. Heat a large, heavy skillet on MEDIUM HIGH, add the water. Drop in the cauliflower and cook, stirring often, adding water as needed, until the cauliflower's rawness is cooked out, until it reaches the desired level of done-ness, seasoning with salt along the way. Don't let the cauliflower get brown, the color is unappealing.

DRESSING Meanwhile, whisk together the dressing ingredients.

COMBINE Stir the cooked cauliflower, the cooked egg, onion, celery, herbs into the dressing. Taste and season to taste.

REST & GARNISH If time allows, cover and refrigerate for two to 24 hours, allowing the flavors to meld. To serve, transfer to a serving dish, garnish, serve and savor!

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
When I make Cauliflower Salad with Fresh Herbs, I steam the cauliflower so that it doesn't get 'wet and soggy'. The downside of steaming is that the cauliflower has no salt to absorb and thus can taste quite bland. That happens to work in the Cauliflower Salad with Fresh Herbs, where the herbs really shine, but for Cauliflower "Potato" Salad, salt is important to match the flavor profile we expect from potato salad. Thus I really do recommend cooking the cauliflower in a way that salt can be absorbed. The first time, I cooked the cauliflower in well-salted water but this actually left the Cauliflower Potato Salad too soggy. So the second time, I stir-fried the cauliflower in a large skillet, as specified here in the recipe. Perfect!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Half Cup: 51 Calories; 1g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 53mg Cholesterol; 94mg Sodium; 7g Carb; 2g Fiber; 4g Sugar; 4g Protein; Weight Watchers Old Points .5, PointsPlus 1

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MORE FAVORITE CAULIFLOWER RECIPES
~ Roasted Cauliflower ~
~ Cauliflower Cream ~
~ Cauliflower Tomato Medley ~
~ more cauliflower recipes ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Cauliflower Salad with Fresh Herbs ~
~ Quick Cauliflower Soup ~
~ Cauliflower Risotto ~
~ more cauliflower recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade

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