If you are looking for more plant based holiday party recipes, I suggest this healthy alternatives to the infamous Scalloped Potatoes
This dish still has the same buttery, caramelized, creamy experience as it's rival scalloped potatoes made with high carbs and cow cream. I added panko bread crumbs to this dish but for a no carb dish, these can be omitted from the recipe.
This dish can be prepared a day ahead of time as well and will only take about 40 minutes in a 425f oven before serving. This is also a great dish for weekly meal prepping.
Recipe
1 pound Cauliflower, cut into florets about 1-2"
2 cloves Garlic, peeled, smashed and sliced
3 ounces White Onion, 1/4" dice
16 ounces Vegetable Stock, fresh or prepared
1 can Coconut Cream
1 tbs Avocado Oil
Sea Salt
What to Do
First step is to make the sauce. Start by slicing your garlic. Then, peel a whole onion by first shaving off the roots with a pairing knife. Then with the tip of the knife, scoop out the stem end, exposing some of the layers. Use the tip of the pairing knife to peel of the paper skin from stem to root until all of the paper is removed. Cut the onion with a large sharp knife, from stem to root and place cut side down with the root facing away from cutting your cutting hand.
Tip: Using a razor sharp knife is the only trick I've found to prevent you from crying while cutting an onion. The cells of an onion are filled with tear jerking gasses. A dull knife will squish those cells releasing the gasses like a shaken can of soda. A sharp knife will quietly slice through cells without disturbing a sole
Next, without cutting all the way to the root so the layers stay attached, make cuts from root end to the stem end 1/4" apart. This will be the first size of your dice. Now, from the stem end, cut across your cuts, 1/4" apart to make all your dices equal size. The layers should now separate with a little encouragement while fighting back your tears.
In a medium sauce pot on the stove, heat the avocado oil over medium-high heat. Next, carefully add the onions and gently cook them until they become translucent. Cooking them over medium heat will allow the moisture to come to the surface of the onions, cooling the sugars just enough that they don't caramelize, but the onion still becomes tender and flavorful, without the added sweetness.
Once the onions are cooked through, add the garlic and stir gently to toast it with the onions. Now you can add the vegetable stock and bring it to a boil. Feel free to increase the heat now, you can even cover the pot to trap the heat.
While the vegetable stock comes to a boil, start cutting up the cauliflower into chunks up to 2" large and place them in a lightly sprayed or oiled casserole dish. Remove the core and any leaves from the stem as well.
Once the vegetable stock comes to a boil on the stove, add the can of coconut cream. Until the fat in the cream gets hot and melts into the stock, it may look lumpy but that won't last. Return the mixture to a boil and season with salt.
As the mixture simmers, mix 3 tablespoons of corn starch with cold water to dissolve it. Slowly add the slurry while whisking it into the stock until tight bubbles form. Remove the sauce from the heat and pour it over the cauliflower in the casserole dish
Place the casserole dish in the oven at 425f. While that is cooking, if you want the crunch and a little gluten in your diet, mix 1/4 cup of panko breadcrumbs with 2 tablespoons of avocado oil and 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley.
After 25 minutes, add the breadcrumb mix to the top of the casserole and return it to the oven for another 10 minutes until it's toasted and brown.