We make this cauliflower cheese with breadcrumbs quite a lot, but usually with broccoli. This time as there isn’t any on the shopping list, I’ve used some defrosted spinach. It tastes just as nice and you’re getting plenty of Iron too.

Although the meals this week are all vegetarian. because they’re so tasty you don’t feel like your missing out. As a family we are starting to eat a lot less meat these days, and hardly ever red meat. Using spinach gives you some of the vitamins you would miss otherwise, and I try to make sure we have plenty of different coloured fruits and vegetables whether we are doing a challenge week or not.

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Breakfast
Toast or Porridge

Lunch
Toasted aubergine and mozzarella roll

Dinner
Cauliflower Cheese

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Cauliflower and Spinach Cheese
Adapted from Jamie Oliver Save with Jamie book

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 cloves of garlic
25g Butter
25g Plain flour
250ml milk
200g frozen spinach defrosted
50g Cheddar cheese
1/2 fresh cauliflower
2 slices of crusts or stale bread
1 teaspoon mixed dried herbs
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C or Gas Mark 4.

Peel and finely slice the garlic and put it into a medium pan on a medium heat with the butter.

When the butter has melted, stir in the flour for a minute to make a paste, then gradually add the milk, whisking as you go, until lovely and smooth. Make sure you keep stirring so it doesn’t burn on the bottom.

Add the spinach and simmer for around 10 minutes, then mash or blitz with a stick blender.

Add most of the Cheddar and season to taste.

Arrange the florets of cauliflower in a baking dish and pour over the spinach white sauce and then scatter over the remaining Cheddar.

Blitz the bread into breadcrumbs in a food processor, then pulse in some mixed herbs. We sometime add a few almond flakes too.

Toss with a glug of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper, then scatter evenly over the cauliflower cheese.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.