Reducing or avoiding carbohydrates in the diet is important for many people so, even though I enjoy mashed potatoes, rice, noodles or spaetzle/nokedli as a base for a dish of roast or paprika chicken, I decided to finally try ‘rice’ made out of cauliflower. Since cauliflower is not one of my go-to vegetable options, I had some concerns.
It turns out that the concerns weren’t warranted. Buy the cauliflower when it’s on sale, prepare and freeze for a fast (<15 min) side dish from frozen.
Cauliflower head with green leaves and stem trimmed off.
Quarter the head of cauliflower and pulse each quarter until the florettes are broken down into coarse rice-sized and shaped pieces. Bag and freeze. No blanching necessary. Each bag held a bit over 300 gms … enough for 2 servings.
Mint Chimichurri Butter Maryland Chicken with Cauli-Rice
Paprika Chicken over Cauli-Rice
Basic Cauli-Rice – serves 2
300 gm cauliflower rice, frozen
1 tbsp sauteed onion
~1 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp vegetable oil or drippings from roasted chicken
In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, combine the oil or drippings with the sauteed onion.
Add the frozen cauliflower rice and break it up as much as possible. Add a tablespoon or two of water and cover with a lid. Let steam for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, break up the cauliflower, sprinkle the salt and pepper over the top and combine the cauliflower with the oil/drippings. Cook for a few minutes until the ‘rice’ chunks are separate and have a bit of colour. Taste, adding more salt if needed and serve.
Thanks for the tip on cauliflower rice. Gotta try it.
It’s surprisingly easy. For a variation, try a Mexican cauli-rice … use some tomato paste, cumin etc, for flavour. You can do an Italian version with the tomato paste or diced tomatoes, oregano and basil. Add some grated mozzarella over the top and put under a broiler briefly.
People use the rice to make a pizza crust. I hadn’t realized it was such a ‘thing’. 🙂
Thank you😃
I’ll be sure to try this one. Great mixture of flavors!
Both ways of serving your cauliflower rice sound great. You mentioned about the cauliflower rice being used as a base for a pizza. I’ll be interested to see how yours turns out if you try it. A friend has served it to us twice as an appetizer but it was very soggy. I have a feeling, she just didn’t prepare it properly.
I haven’t made cauli-rice pizza and probably won’t because I just like my dough version so much. 🙂
PS: I did a quick search on soggy cauli-rice pizza crust and ran across this. You might want to try it out.
https://detoxinista.com/the-secret-to-perfect-cauliflower-pizza-crust/
Thanks! I’m going to pass this on to my friend before she decides to serve us soggy pizza again. 😀
Best of luck to both of you. 🙂
Cauliflower rice is a staple in my house. I’ve never thought to freeze portions, what a great idea. I usually dry-fry mine with a tablespoon of coconut flour, it maintains an al dente texture and crisps up a bit, like fried rice.
I’ve never heard of that dry fry technique. Thank you for the information.
I love cauliflower baked or stir-fried but still half-raw ad very crunchy…the way I prefer 99% of cooked vegetables. I have always worried the cauliflower “rice” would be too soft… I must try it one day! (Thank you Eva for the tip!).
This version is softer … the texture of regular rice, I think, but tasty.
There is so much talking about it, I really have to try it – thanks for inspiration!
I definitely recommend giving the cauliflower rice a try. Seems like a lot of ways to season/serve it.
I’ve seen all kinds of recipes, so I am definitely planning to, but the Boss’ reaction is unpredictable. 😺