Going back to cauli, cauli, cauli *

Roses are red, neon is bright

And my very favorite veggie, of course, is white.

A head, some florets, roasted or steamed

Cauliflower has become the stuff of my dreams.

I eat it in soups, as a sub for mashed taters

And disown all my friends who are cauli-haters.

Who knew that a veggie could become an obsession,

So much that cauli is always in my possession.

I panic when I run out and I've been known, in the store

To buy frozen bags or heads--three or four.

Yes, cauliflower, you are my true love

You are faithful and good to me--sent from above.

You've changed my life with your goodness and taste

To love another as much would just be a waste.

So yeah, I'm no Emily Dickinson. Some people are inspired by love to write poems. Me? All it takes is a vegetable.

I first wrote about my cauliflower adoration in November. I had just started my obsession with using them as a mashed potatoes swap. That love affair has continued. But since then, my cauliflower cravings have only heightened. I've been making all kinds of new and exciting things.

I recently made (and loved) Gina's "Dad's Cauliflower Soup" from Skinnytaste.com. I can't believe how creamy it turned out, considering it's essentially just cauliflower, onions, water and bouillon cubes. I made a huge batch of it and ate it with most of my meals for a few days. My favorite thing to do is to add a little reduced-fat cheddar, some green onions and little bacon pieces. Boom--loaded potato soup.

But y'all! There's a new cauliflower revolution taking over my life. Are you ready? Cauliflower. Rice. Rice! I followed the directions from Big Red Kitchen, with great success. I've since made cilantro-lime cauliflower rice, and a stir-fry that I made up last night. 

Is the texture exactly like rice? Of course not. But the flavor is divine and I can see this becoming a great side-dish staple. I rarely have a starch with dinner (something a friend once chided me for when I cooked dinner for a guy I was dating--I panicked and ended up going to the store for rolls), but sometimes I miss it. So this is a nice way to fool myself.

I ask you, my friends. Is there anything cauliflower can't do? I say no (in fact, I recently watched a YouTube tutorial about how to make breadsticks out of cauliflower. Stay tuned for my attempts on that). Perhaps I'll start making clothes out of cauliflower, or using it as a facial mask. Maybe as a household cleaner or alternative fuel source. Pee-Wee Herman used to say "If you love it so much, why don't you marry it?"

Maybe I will, Pee-Wee. Maybe I will.

*Thanks for the post title, Jan!