Shrimp Sauté over Cauliflower-Potato Mash
Does anyone get the deal with cauliflower lately? This past year I’ve seen it all over my Facebook news feed in shared Tasty and BuzzFeed Food videos. My thought is that cauliflower pizza spiked some interest a while back. Below is a search I did on Google Trends. Check out the rise in Google searches for “cauliflower” since 2010!
Cauliflower is super versatile. There’s recipes flying around the web for buffalo cauliflower bites, general tso’s cauliflower, cauliflower tacos… I mean people are making PIZZA with cauliflower. You can see me rolling my eyes from here, can’t you? As a pizza lover I refuse to try this. Some things are worth recreating and some things are just sacrilege. Anyways, you can also make bisques with cauliflower. It adds such a creaminess that you think is dairy, but it’s just pureed cauliflower. You can also roast it with turmeric & cinnamon for an anti-inflammatory earthy bite. In my opinion the best way to cook it is a mash or purée. It’s smooth and holds up to lots of different foods.
My favorite part about cauliflower is the nutritional benefit. This ghostly and seemingly boring cruciferous veggies is packed with nutrients and minerals. 12% DV of B6! With that said, if you have IBD like me, the sulfuric composition of cruciferous veggies might be too much for you. Anyone who has been around me after a plate of brussels sprouts knows what I mean. So the garlic and cauliflower in this recipe can easily be omitted.
For low sulfur: Replace cauliflower with potato. You may replace shallots with the leafy part of scallions and add more parsley instead of garlic for a brighter flavor.
Wanna know a secret? I originally named this recipe “Shrimp Scampi with cauliflower potato mash”. I changed it. Obvs. This isn’t true shrimp scampi. And I have a big issue with recipes claiming they are one thing, but are not that at all. For example, this water cake. This is not a cake. It’s literally just water with gelatin. And it bugs me.
So long story short I can’t call it Shrimp Scampi because it’s not. Shrimp Scampi is traditionally made with white wine, more garlic, and typically served over linguini. This recipe does not have white wine. But honestly, it’s so darn close.
- 1 head cauliflower florets
- 1 whole white sweet potato large, peeled
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 pound raw shrimp shelled and deveined (26-30 ct)
- 1 tbsp ghee or olive oil
- 1 medium shallot 1/4 cup when minced
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp parsley chopped (save some for plating)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Chop cauliflower florets and potato into 2 inch pieces.
- Toss cauliflower and potato in olive oil, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt.
- Place on baking sheet and bake in oven for 25 minutes or until soft.
- Blend cooked veggies until smooth. I use my Blendtec blender.
- In a stove-top frying pan, add ghee (or olive oil), shallots, and garlic. Sauté on medium-high heat until shallots are translucent.
- Lower heat to medium and add shrimp.
- Stir in lemon juice, zest, parsley, and salt & pepper. Sauté for about 6-7 minutes or until shrimp are pink.
- Serve over potato-cauliflower mash. Sprinkle remaining parsley and a squeeze of lemon over each plate. Mangia!
Adding the potato in this recipe helps thicken the texture, which I prefer. But you can omit it if you’re staying away from nightshades or starch. Simply replace more cauliflower for potato.
How much do you despise peeling the shrimp tails off while you eat? I understand the tails add flavor to the cooking and they look prettier. It’s such a pain in the tail though! So if you choose to remove them before cooking, save them for a broth. You can freeze the shells and tails with other fish bones, lobster or crab shells, etc. Then boil it with some veggies to make a fish broth – great for Asian inspired soups. Or, if you want to get really weird, you can dry them out and blend into a powder because apparently Yoshimi Shibata believes it to be beneficial for inflammatory responses. ?
MANGIA!