Cauliflower & Egg Breakfast Mini-Muffins
I posted a similar recipe a few weeks ago called Quinoa Breakfast Mini-Muffins that are outstanding. I highly recommend them for an appetizer, breakfast, lunch, dinner or even just a snack. Basically, they are good any time of the day and everyday of the week.
Right now, my hubs and I are eating lower carbs, and one of my jobs during this time is to make sure that what we eat isn't boring. I need to keep things tasty and filling all while avoiding foods that are high in carbs. You really can eat delicious, yummy and healthy foods while maintaining a low carb diet, it just takes a little creativity in Krysten's Kitchen. Just a few days ago, I posted a recipe for Cauliflower Rice which is so out of this world, you will think you are eating real rice and so then I got to thinking about breakfast.....
It dawned on me that quiona could probably be replaced with cauliflower in my Quinoa Breakfast Mini-Muffins, so that's what I did this morning. While I would rather have the quiona becuase quiona is wonderful, I am totally happy and completely satisfied with this cauliflower version. I think the texture is a bit different because quiona is a bit firmer, but they still hold together. You can pick it up with your hands and eat them like before.
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INGREDIENTS
2 cups cauliflower - riced
2 egg whites
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups zucchini - shredded
2-4 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup diced black forest ham
1/4 cup sliced green onions
2TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil
a pinch of salt and pepper
*Optional
1/2 TB of dried Parsley
Directions:
Set your oven to 350.
Wash you head of cauliflower and then cut off the stem. Cut your head of cauliflower into quarters or smaller pieces like in the photo below. Place a quarter or so of it into your Vita Mix (or blender) and, using the tamper or blender wand, push the cauliflower down towards the blender while it's on a low speed. You do not need a high speed otherwise it will turn to mush. Once it's riced, put it into a large bowl and measure out 2 cups. (I had some of my cauliflower left over. If you have already riced it, save it in tupperware in the fridge to make a fabulous side dish like my Cauliflower Rice).
Put your olive oil into the skillet on medium and sautee the cauliflower rice until it is warm - maybe 3 minutes. Then set it aside into a bowl or simply put that skillet onto a different burner.
In another large bowl, combined the rest of the ingredients: shredded zucchini, minced garlic, shredded mozzarella, diced black forest ham, green onions (I use scissors to "chop" them), eggs, egg whites, salt and pepper and parsley. Once that is all combined, put the 2 cups of cauliflower rice into that mixture and mix well.
Using a cookie scoop like the one in the photo, scoop them evenly into a prepared mini-muffin tin only 3/4 of the way full. (Just so there is no confusion, this photo is from my Quinoa version, but I wanted you to see the cookie scoop)
Bake them at 350 degrees for 19-20 minutes or until the edges appear golden. As hard as it is to wait, let them sit for 3-5 minutes before popping them out and onto a plate.
Side note... according to MyFitnessPal (you can get it on the App Store), each mini muffin has only 0.8g of carbs. The original version using quinoa has 8g of carbs per mini muffin. I say that is pretty awesome!
