Lactose Free Cottage Pie

I happened to have cauliflower in my fridge...And the guest that I had over evidently was not a fan of this vegetable - as well as being lactose intolerant.  So I figured I'd blend two and two together and make it so that the guest could NOT figure out that there was no cauliflower and no milk products in this cottage pie.

So I boiled some yellow potatoes and the cauliflower together...Added some rice milk and vegan butter then proceeded to blend the potatoes and cauliflower into 

I then used my cast iron skillet, that still had residual duck fat on it (as I had cooked duck breasts on it not too long ago), browned a meatloaf mixture of beef and pork and added onion and garlic seasoning to it (as I had no actual onion or garlic on hand...And didn't think about it til much later).  While it browned I heated the frozen vegetables and put in Pomi's strained tomatoes and as well as some worcestershire sauce.

I then placed the meat mixture on the bottom and topped it with the cauliflower-potato mixture and heated the oven for approximately 350 degrees for about half an hour or until the crust got a nice tan color to it.

Outcome?  The guest loved it.

Listed below are the ingredients.

Residual Duck Fat

Cauliflower

Rice Milk

Vegan butter

white potatoes

Meatloaf mixture (beef and pork)

Frozen vegetables

Simple Cauliflower Soup

I must say, I've never been a huge fan of cauliflower.  Then again, I've never despised it.  To me it was just...a vegetable.  I had ended up using half for a saute and I had no clue what to do with the other half.  I decided to make a very simple cauliflower soup.  While making this I had recalled two of my guy friends proudly talking to me about how they made their cauliflower soup.  I don't think there's a set way to making it to begin with.

Considering I had winged this recipe there will be no exact measurements involved.

1/2 cauliflower
3/4 yellow onion
1 green onion
16 ounces (1 lb) veggie stock
a dash of milk (which can be replaced w/ half an half or heavy cream...OR you can have the choice to not use the milk at all)....

While I waited for the oil to get hot in the pot, I had diced the onion, cleaned and took apart the florets of the cauliflower.   Once the oil was hot I threw in the onions until they turned iridescent.  I poured in the veggie stock and the florets...While they were cooking I diced and chopped the green onion.  Once it had appeared that the florets were cooked through, I had poured everything into the blender...And eyed out how much more milk I would add to the mix.  I blended it to my taste...Then poured everything back onto the pot to reheat a bit.

Comfort in a bowl.