Maybe it's the hot days that are hanging on from summer but last week I was seriously craving potato salad! I don't often crave it, and I rarely eat it, but after putting it 'off' for almost a week and still craving it, I whipped up a half batch for dinner that night. Surprisingly, my husband seemed even more excited about seeing it with our dinner that night than I was. I guess he's been missing potato salad as well!
Of course we are trying to be really good at keeping low carb and sugar free so I did not make the real potato version. All I really am doing when I make this version is making my favorite potato salad with some substitute ingredients (like the cauliflower) to make it lower carb.
Normally this is best if you use fresh cauliflower and cut it up into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces so it seems even more like potatoes but I wanted REALLY quick and easy the other night so I used riced cauliflower instead, which I don't think I've done in the past. And? I was happy with it. Mostly because it saved time and made this even easier to make.
Low Carb "Potato" Salad using Cauliflower
2 or 3 bags riced cauliflower, a head of fresh riced cauliflower or chopped fresh cauliflower
2 green onions, chopped
3/4 c celery, diced
1 t salt and some pepper to taste
6 hard boiled eggs
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c natural sweetener of your choice
1 t thickener of choice (corn starch, 1/4 t xanthan gum, etc.)
1/4 c white vinegar
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1/2 c half and half or cream (can use milk but it has natural sugar grams)
1 t yellow mustard
1 c mayonnaise
1/2 c bacon, cooked and crumbled
To easily hard-boil eggs, use your instant pot if you have one! Manually cook for 5 minutes, quick release, cool and peel. Other wise, cook your eggs you normally do on the stove and cool, peel. While they are cooking, cook your cauliflower briefly to soften but still firm. This is about 3 minutes. Drain your cauliflower well and gently press a bit to get out the excess water it holds. In a large bowl place the cauliflower, chop the hard boiled eggs, the celery, bacon and green onions.
In a saucepan on the stove, whisk together the 2 eggs, natural sweetener(s) and the thickener. Stir in the vinegars, cream and mustard; cook over medium heat, stirring until it is slightly thickened. This is about 7-8 minutes usually. Remove from heat and let cool or place the bowl in ice water to cool down quicker. Add the mayonnaise. Stir into the cauliflower/celery mixture. Chill and serve. Note: We had some leftover that night and when I wanted to use it the next day, it had soaked up the dressing and was drier. It was 'fine' but I like my potato salad creamy and moist so I had to mix up another batch of the dressing and stir it in. So, I'd say this is best the day you make it.
*as usual, I like to mix 2-3 natural sweeteners for the best flavor
