Cauliflower "tater tots"

My kids *LOVE* french fries...and tater tots.. Its a toss up as to which of the two is their favorite. One week it will be fries. Another week tots.. Fries are easy.. Just about anyone can make fries in the oven. But tots.. Well that is another story.. Tonight tots are what I attempted to make, as store bought tots have too many of the things that are "off" limits. Most of the brands I looked at had around 500mg of salt per serving, which averaged to be 7 tots (and what kid only eats 7 tots.. really)  .. and a couple brands had high fructose corn syrup.... Ok.. This is getting ridiculous. So after realizing that my kids would either never get tots again, or I would have to make my own, I decided on the latter.. I am creative.. I can do this!! I got online and did some searching, got an idea or two from Pinterest, but decided to just "wing" it when I didn't find exactly what I was looking for.

 I went about this adventure - without using potatoes.. (not a requirement.. but hey, carbs.. waistline.. you know how this goes.. ). and besides, I had cauliflower that needed to be used before it went bad.. So here is what I came up with after reading a pinterest post that had something similar (find the similar recipe here http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/01/cauliflower-tater-tots.html )

Ingredient list

3 large egg whites (yes.. eggs are *technically* off limits.. but I am using 3 WHITES for us all so figured the protein wouldn't be that much)

1 cup Matzo meal    - for matzo balls..   really it is wonderful stuff

1 entire head of cauliflower 

1/4 cup cheese - I used a blended cheese.  (again.. I know, off limits.. but its the sodium only that makes cheese off limits.. and 1/4 c for as much as this makes will be ok.. and there really is not that much sodium in the cheese I am using.. 130 mg for 1/3 cup.. not bad)

I started off by cutting up the cauliflower into florets. I put into a bot of boiling water only, and boiled for maybe 5 minutes. Just until tender. I then placed the drained cauliflower into my food processor and pureed it until it was like mashed potatoes. Then I put them into the refrigerator to cool down.

     While the cauliflower is cooling, I beat the 3 egg whites with a dash of cream of tartar until super stiff peaks.. and I do mean STIFF PEAKS.. I wanted to make sure they were able to support the "tater tot" shape and the egg whites were going to be my helper with this. 

     Once the cauliflower was cooled (about half hour), and my egg whites stiff peaks, I folded the cheese, cauliflower and matzo meal into the eggs. You do want to FOLD, not stir- or all the work in making stiff peaks will be worthless. Once everything was folded in I scooped the mix into a large zip-lock baggie, and cut a good size hole out of the corner, maybe 1/2 inch hole, creating a disposable "pastry bag". I then piped small "tater tots" onto a cookie sheet that I had lined with foil (for easy clean up) and had put a small amount of olive oil onto. I just made small tater tot sized "dollops". Placed into a 400 degree oven for 7-10 minutes. Turned over. Cooked for another 7-10 minutes (or til golden brown on each side).  Remove from oven, and put onto a paper towel lined plate to drain any oil. And then...  GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!!!

These little gems did have a "potato like" taste to them. they were crunchy on the outside, and soft like mashed potatoes on the inside. The cheese gave a nice flavor, just a hint of cheese,  and helped with the need for any salt, as these would probably be very bland otherwise, and as I added NO salt other than what was in the cheese.  Two of my three kids were all over them.. My daughter did not like them much. She said they were just to "weird".. but the boys (who are my hardest critics) ate about 20 tots each. I thought they were great. And my hubby liked them pretty good too.. 4 out of 5 likes.. That says keeper to me on my recipe scale. 

OK.. I know they look more like chicken nuggets.. but they were good substitute for tater tots.. in my opinion. Plus they are low carb, low salt, no HFCS, and technically, just another veggie. Which helps in that department. I may have to try making some and freezing (before cooking) to see how they turn out if cooked from frozen like store bought tots. And to save on time as these did take a bit of time to make. Would be nice to be able to pop out of freezer and into oven and have dinner ready in just a few minutes. hmm. I'll try this and update once I do. Probably be a bit before I get to it though.