cauliflower rice

when i was seeing my naturopath regularly, one of the things she told me was that i wasn't absorbing much from carbohydrates, and as such i should eat them sparingly. i do enjoy carbs (freshly baked bread, anyone??), but i'm not nuts for them. i found that the hardest part was dishes like curry and stir-fry that i would traditionally serve with rice or bread. 

whether you're watching your carb intake, trying to cut back on calories, or simply looking for a new way to sneak vegetables to a picky eater, i'd highly recommend cauliflower rice. i've been feeding it to matt for months now, and he's never given any indication that he's aware it's not rice. muhahaha. 

i tend to add a little something extra to dishes that i cook with cauliflower rice - in this example, i added about 1/3 c peanut butter to our stir fry, to up the calories, and to add more FAT (which my naturopath says i should eat lots of).

keep in mind that while cauliflower rice is great for many things (curries, stir-fry, under chicken, with herbs, etc), it doesn't absorb water in the same way that real rice does, so look at it as a cooked rice substitute.

also, fyi, the stir fry in the pictures was about 5c of veggies (onion, carrot, broccoli, red pepper) and 1 package of deep-fried tofu puffs cooked in coconut oil, then sauced with 1 1/2 c veggie broth, 1 T garlic, 1 t sambal olek, 1/4 c soy sauce, 1/3 c peanut butter and 1 T potato starch. 


ingredients:
(makes about 3 - 3 1/2 c)

4 c cauliflower, in large florets
3/4 c white or yellow onion, finely chopped
2 t coconut oil

to make:

heat a large frying pan or wok to med-low heat. add coconut oil and onion. cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion is starting to become translucent. 

while the onion is cooking, throw your cauliflower in a food processor* and pulse 5-10 times, until it's chopped up about rice-sized. 

(as you can see there are still a few bigger chunks, i'd take these out and reprocess them separately, so as to not overprocess the rest)

add the cauliflower to the partially-cooked onion. stir well, and cover with a lid. 

allow cauliflower to cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. the longer you cook it the softer it will be, so keep that in mind - depending on what you are making you may want your "rice" softer or firmer. 

voila! cauliflower rice!

serve with your favourite rice accompaniment, or add some herbs and olive oil for a tasty, healthy side dish!

*i'm sure you could do this without a food processor with either a giant knife or a cheese grater and some elbow grease... but i'd highly recommend the food processor!!