No-egg cauliflower breadsticks

Kona keeping her feet mud free with her new Christmas booties.



First attempt cauliflower breadsticks with no egg.



This past year has brought me several health victories. I have candida and sinus issues under control, not that it's not an on-going battle to maintain the delicate equilibrium of good and bad bacteria. I know I still am susceptible. One of the most telltale signs is my winter problem with athlete's foot. I have to disinfect my yoga mat frequently, keep my shower clean as a whistle and put baby powder in my shocks daily to keep my tootsies free of this problem.

Even as New Year's approaches, I'm not planning to go whole hog and abandon my low-carb, low-glycemic diet. I guess it's something I will have to do for my lifetime. One health issue that I continue to tackle is chronic muscle pain that hasn't disappeared with the candida diet. My pain is somewhat arthritic-like but confined to only muscles, not joints.

I recently did some research on nightshade allergy/intolerance to help a friend who potentially has rheumatoid arthritis. As I read the symptoms, I began to see myself and decided to eliminate my lovely peppers and tomatoes from my diet. Nightshade vegetables can cause or contribute to arthritis symptoms in sensitive individuals. I have already eliminated potatoes and eggplants, also nightshade, so I thought what the heck. It's worth a try. In some studies, 70-80 percent of participants found relief from their pain by strictly eliminating nightshade foods. I've gone three days so far; too soon to tell.

New Year's Eve has me planning what to cook. But Kona, my 12-year-old pup, has been out frolicking in her new booties she got for Christmas. We decided to purchase some for her because she looks forlorn every time we have to leave her in the garage to let her muddy feet dry out before coming indoors. The booties solve the problem. She's so docile she doesn't care a bit when I put them on her or when she's running around in them.

I decided to try out some appetizer recipes for New Year's. The cauliflower breadsticks came out of seeing a post numerous places for cauliflower pizza. Unfortunately, the recipe uses egg and cheese. I am allergic to eggs and cheese is off limits for candida. My first attempt yielded tasty but somewhat flimsy breadsticks. That egg would be a great addition so if it's not a problem go for it.

Cauliflower Breadsticks
Ingredients:
1 cup riced cauliflower
1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
salt and pepper
1 T. olive oil
herbs such as basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary
Optional: one egg

Directions:

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Spray and lightly oil a baking sheet.

To rice cauliflower, steam 1/2 head of cauliflower cut into florettes just until fork tender. Drain the cauliflower and place in your food processor. Pulse until the cauliflower becomes pearl-sized.

Mix 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour with 3/4-1 cup water. Stir to blend. Let set until it thickens. It should be the thickness of thin pudding. Add olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper, and cauliflower. Stir to blend.

Preheat the baking sheet slightly in the oven to distribute the oil evenly on the pan. Spoon and spread the batter on the pan. The batter should  be thick enough to shape into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick.

Bake for 12 minutes or longer until batter is cooked and set. Remove the pan from the oven. Allow the cooked batter to cool slightly. Then, cut into breadsticks with a pizza cutter.

Turn the oven up to broil. Place the breadsticks back in the oven until they are crispy but watch them carefully to prevent burning.

Allow the breadsticks to cool slightly again. They will be somewhat fragile until fairly cool.

I thought they were pretty tasty but next time I will add more herbs and try adding some chia slurry or flax slurry to get them to bind together better. If anyone has success with this, let me know.