Creamy Cauliflower Mac

Some friends of ours invited us over tonight for some homemade mac and cheese and hot dogs. Being that the girls and I are not eating dairy right now, I decided that I would bring a dish that I found from Runner's World for a more healthy mac and cheese. Now I have altered this recipe to fit our needs and it worked out wonderfully. I think I will be making this more often.

Creamy Cauliflower Mac

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock
2 Bay leaves
1 Cauliflower, cored and cut into large pieces
1 1/2 cups of elbow pasta
1/2 cup grated cheese ( I used soy veggie cheese)
2 Tbs. Olive oil
1 Tbs. Dijon Mustard
1/8 tsp. Nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Method:

1) Heat oven to 400 degrees. Boil a pot of salted water.

2) In a saucepan, warm stock and bay leaves on medium-low heat for five minutes; turn off heat.

3) Cook cauliflower in boiling water for 25 minutes. Put cauliflower in a food processor.

4) Cook pasta in boiling water for five minutes. Drain and rinse to cool; put pasta in greased, nine-inch square baking dish. ( I used the same water that I boiled the cauliflower in.)

5) Process the cauliflower with stock (discard bay leaves), cheese, oil, mustard, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, working in batches.

6) Pour sauce over pasta, toss, and spread evenly in dish. Top with bread crumbs. Bake 20 minutes.

NOTE: Taste the sauce before adding to pasta. I didn't and it was not salty enough. It tastes really creamy and makes me feel better that it doesn't have a large amount of fat.