How To Rush A Meal

The decision was made – salmon would be for dinner. We love salmon and I wanted to make a side that we care about as much. That meant pasta or potatoes and the latter won out. I had the desire for comfort food and that meant potatoes and cheese. There is something about noodles or potatoes that fills me up emotionally.

When I opened the refrigerator to get the cheese, I saw a little fresh cauliflower left, less than two cups. That is when the recipe took a turn, for the better, in my opinion. That is also when the alarms went off …….roaring symbols in the background. I had about twenty minutes to get dinner on the table and ten minutes prep and probably an hour bake time. Not going to happen……

You might ask why I had to get dinner on the table in twenty minutes. Hubby and I have a humorous Q and A. He calls, when he is on his way home and I ask him, when he will be home. He gives me an exact time, like 5:23 or 7:16, My goal becomes getting the meal done by that time. I usually don’t but I give it the college try.

I am not being totally honest. When I get home from work or home from shopping, I check my email and the blog. You are bloggers. You know how time flies when you are doing these. It repeats itself, daily…..good intentions and bad timing. When, I finally get into the kitchen, if I haven’t prepped, in the morning, I move very quickly.

Tonight, it mean cutting potatoes to be close to hash browns, chopping onions, shredding cheese, measuring and solving problems. Here is my recipe and I will share how I cut down the time, not to 20 minutes but to something more reasonable than 60.

Creamy Cauliflower Potato Bake

4 medium potatoes (I had Idaho), sliced with a mandolin

2 cups cauliflower, broken into little pieces

salt and black pepper to taste

1 onion, chopped

1 cup vegetable broth, more if needed

1 cup light sour cream

2 cups Mexican cheese or cheese of choice

1/4 cup fresh chives or 2 teaspoon dried chives

1 – 2 cups crumbs (taco, corn chips, bread, cracker – your choice) I used tortilla chips

Procedure

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Spray a casserole or baking pan with olive oil.

Layer chopped onions on the bottom of pan.

Place paper thin potato slices (the mandolin took no time to make this happen) on top of the onions.

Cover with sour cream and mix everything slightly.

Cover with half of the cheese and again mix slightly.

Pour cauliflower pieces on top and once again mix gently.

Add remaining cheese and give it a slight mix.

Finally, cover with crumbs and spray olive oil on top of crumbs.

Now the way, I made this happen.

Put the casserole or baking dish into a microwave for about 10 minutes, depending on the power of your microwave.

It will be very hot when you remove it so please take care. Place it in the 400 degree oven. Bake, starting to check at 10 minutes. The top will turn a golden brown when it is done or should be done. If the potatoes are not cooked through, microwave for another few minutes.

I did not care if the cauliflower cooked through. I like it crisp and it gives a little crunch to the dish.

This was delicious and went well with the salmon and a tossed salad.