A creamy, fat-free late addition to your Thanksgiving feast!

Click here for the full recipe and nutritional information.

Think about your typical Thanksgiving meal. I know that in my house, it consists of a lot of starch and a lot of fat. Sure, we have broccoli casserole (which you can barely classify as a vegetable) and sprouts, but that’s about it as far as green vegetables. I want to add something rich enough to stand up to all of the decadence of Thanksgiving, yet with virtually no extra fat. That’s where my creamed spinach comes in. Using cauliflower puree as the cream sauce, it’s rich and flavorful with almost no fat whatsoever. So let’s get cookin’!

The first thing we need to do is make our cauliflower cream sauce. This is the perfect opportunity to use up the core of a head of cauliflower, but it works just as well with the florets. Chop and boil or steam until fork-tender.

Now it’s just a case of blending the drained cauliflower with the other ingredients until smooth. Side note: this sauce makes an excellent alfredo, too.

To steam the spinach, all you do is put it in a large lidded frying pan over medium-high heat with no oil or even water. It wilts incredibly quickly and gives off plenty of its own steam. Give it a good squeeze to remove most of the excess water, mix in your sauce, and heat thoroughly. You can transfer it to an oven-safe dish and bake until slightly browned on top, but considering oven space is at a premium on Thanksgiving, I usually just dish it up and serve. For the photoshoot, I went ahead and broiled it with a scant sprinkling of GoVeggie Parmesan on top.

 

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…And now for a word from our sponsor (ie, ME!)

This is a great dish to make ahead of time, too. Just pop it in the microwave and give it a good stir. This creamed spinach is seriously so flavorful and creamy, just as good as the stuff I used to love in my pre-vegan days. I hope you’ll give it a try, and tell me what you think!

~M

Creamed Spinach|Printable Version

Makes 6 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1 small head cauliflower
½ c plain yogurt
¼ c nutritional yeast
½ t salt
½ t black pepper
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
16 oz. washed baby spinach

Directions:

1. Chop cauliflower into large chunks and boil or steam until fork tender. Blend in a blender with the next six ingredients until smooth. Season to taste.
2. Wilt spinach in a frying pan over medium-high heat with no oil or water. Squeeze out excess water. Stir into warm cauliflower cream sauce and serve.