I absolutely love mixing mashed potatoes with garlic and rosemary.  It’s such a wonderful combination. I mean, heck, it’s mashed potatoes. How can you go wrong?

Except when you step on the scale the next day.

Well, that’s not entirely true. You can make fabulous, fattening mashed potatoes, eat a small portion, and still lose weight. But if you’re searching for something similar that you can literally gorge yourself on, look no further.

Cauliflower is an excellent, non-starchy, healthy substitute for mashed potatoes. It does have it’s own flavor, but when you boil it, mash it, and mix it with lower calorie fixings, I think you’ll be surprised at just how similar to mashed potatoes this white vegetable can be.

My husband knew I was up to something when he tasted this recipe, so I can’t say it’s a perfect match. But he did describe them later as mashed potatoes. He just wasn’t too surprised when I told him there were no potatoes involved…only cauliflower. He kind of just gave me one of those looks that said, “I knew something was a little different.”

My recommendation: serve this side with an easy main dish. That way, you can focus your energy on the cauliflower mash, rather than the meat you’re serving it with. I chose to serve this with a store-bought, marinated pork loin roast that I simply baked while working with the cauliflower. That saved me a lot of stress. And a 4oz serving of pork loin roast, plus a 1 cup serving of the cauliflower mash (as pictured below), comes to a mere 237 calories! Dinner under 500? Ha! Try dinner under 250!

 Creamy Cauliflower Mash with Garlic and Rosemary –                                 72 calories per 1 cup serving

Yields: 4 servings of 1 cup each
Cook time: 15 minutes, plus time allotted to bring water to a boil

Ingredients:

6 cups cauliflower florets (from about 1 large head of cauliflower)
2 tsp dried or fresh rosemary, chopped
4 Tbsp light cream cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 large garlic cloves

Place cauliflower in a large pot and pour in enough water to cover the vegetables. Heat over high heat, covered, until water begins to boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil, covered for 15 minutes. Drain the cauliflower, then add the cream cheese. Mash and combine using either a mixer or food processor (for a creamier consistency), or a potato masher. Add the rosemary, pepper, and salt. Then, using a garlic press, add the garlic cloves (or mince the garlic thoroughly). Stir well and serve warm.

Nutrition Information:

Nutrition Disclaimer: I am not a certified nutritionist…these are just the calculations I’m pretty sure are close to correct. I use BodyMedia to generate my information.

Calories: 72
Fat: 2.5g
Saturated Fat: 1.4g
Cholesterol: 8.1mg
Sodium: 216.1mg
Carbohydrates: 10.1g
Dietary Fiber: 4.1g
Sugar: 4.5g
Protein: 4.3g

Dietary Exchange: ½ Fat, 3 Veggie servings
Jenny Craig: Since the only ingredient listed that isn’t considered a “free food” is light cream cheese, you can actually count this as 3 veggie servings and 2 “limited frees”.
Weight Watchers: 2 Points (using calculatorcat.com).