BBQ’ing is back in business!

The sun is finally shining again which means barbecue season has officially started. We love to barbecue; it is one of my favorite parts of spring and summer!

Tonight Mike cue’d up marinated chicken breasts and artichoke garlic sausages. As a side, I fixed a cauliflower dish – Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole. It’s like Mac ‘n Cheese without the mac. This cauliflower is easy to do and it really is delicious… rich, creamy, yummy.

Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole

~ Salt
~ 1 large head cauliflower, cut into small florets
~1 cup heavy cream
~ 2 ounces light cream cheese, cut into small pieces
~ 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
~ 1 ½ cups reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
~ ¼ teaspoon salt
~ ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
~ ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, season with water. Spray a 8x8 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook the cauliflower in the boiling water for 7 minutes. Drain well, pat dry, and transfer to the baking dish.

Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan, and whisk in the cream cheese and mustard until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the shredded cheese, salt, pepper and garlic and whisk until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; pour over the cauliflower and stir to combine. Top with the remaining ½ cup of cheese and bake until brown and bubbly hot, about 20 minutes. Enjoy!

You might have noticed that all of the recipes I’ve posted on my blog are low-carb. Mike and I started to cut carbs out of our diet in June 2008. Mike has lost 45 pounds since then. For me, it hasn’t been that easy – it’s harder for me to say “no” to bread when we go out for dinner or “no” to the chips when we get seated at a Mexican restaurant…. But, Spring is in the air, and I’m back on my “hard core low carb diet”! I’ve lost 4 pounds this week and have every intention of keeping it off and losing a bunch more!

Bon Appétit!