Would you consider cauliflower cheese a meal?

[dudsville]

So, I'm steaming veg (cauliflower, carrots and brocolli) and sauteing mushrooms, and I'll add some frozen peas and spinach. But this is just veg in a cheese sauce. WOuld you consider this a meal in itself?

Any food can be a meal, so yes. Meal = an occasion when food is eaten, or the food that is eaten on such an occasion

If that is what you want to eat for your meal it is fine. Each meal does not need to be balanced, overall your diet needs to be balanced.

We used to have this on a fairly regular basis in autumn/winter for a main meal as children but in a huge dish with cheese on top and a big cheese sauce and lots of cauliflower. Sometimes we did have sausages with it.

I’d want either jacket potatoes or pasta with that - just veg in cheese sauce would not feel like a meal!

Yes. We grew up with this as a meal, (I'm mid 50's which may be relevant) Probably with triangles of fried bread on the side. Delicious.

Yes if you’re vegetarian, if not add sausages.

I often eat cauliflower korma as a meal. (Don’t like cheese).

Yes, I would and would be very happy to eat it. I'd probably serve it with some crusty or garlic bread. I've quite often seen it on a pub's bar or light bites menu before as a main dish.

Only with pasta and with either bacon or sausages. Fine as a left overs snack the next day.

I love it with sausages and crusty bread THEN it's a meal!

Not without an extra carb.

Cheese sauce is in no way a proper carb.

I would be very perturbed to be served veg on a cheese sauce, on its own, as an actual meal.

Cauliflower cheese, generally not
Vegetable gratin, yes

But we probably eat too much, and too much meat, in this country so our social norms are weird around food

Yes light lunch

Tipped into a pie is much better

Sounds amazing. I’d want it with some meat or carbs tho. Bread sounds good!

Yes totally .

I'd be very happy with cauli cheese as a meal, but not with all those other veg you're adding, that's just wrong!

Yes!

It’s a meal if you add some crusty bread and a green salad.

Our local hospital, that I used to work in, do cauliflower cheese with chips in the canteen. Lunch of champions.

This was a standard dinner when I was growing up, so it's made it into our repertoire here too. We always had a slice of toast with it as kids, but as we don't generally have bread in the house here, that's not an option.

I think it's just fine - we don't have it often, and it's very tasty, so why not?

I always roast the cauliflower rather than boil/steam - less potential for the sauce to get thinner when they're combined.

As an aside though, the thing you describe is hardly a cauliflower cheese - there are 5 other veg in it too! It's 'mixed vegetable cheese'.

Absolutely! We would eat this for dinner happily.
We're vegetarian so maybe that's why. I don't understand the obsession with having meat with every meal

The cauli chs (without mushrooms & spinach, ) Yes definitely, we usually eat it with some mash though. 😬

Yes, I'd consider this dinner.

I'd eat this as a meal Dh would be looking for the rest of his dinner 😀

I think it needs a carb or a protein to be a good regular meal. Some sausages or add pasta or something. As a one off I think anything can be a meal.

Served with bread or bacon. I could eat cauliflower cheese in its own.

I would, DH would ask where the rest was