This cauliflower rice recipe is awesome if you’re trying to cut down on your carbohydrate, or if you love cauliflower, or even if you love rice and just want to try something new. It’s super easy to make and it tastes amazing. It’s hard to imagine fried rice as being healthy, but because this ‘rice’ is made with tiny bits of cauliflower, you’re eating a ton more vegetables than with regular fried rice. You’re also many times less likely to drop into a food coma afterwards because unlike massive amounts of fried actual rice, cauliflower will not put you to sleep after your meal.
The most labor intensive part of this recipe is creating the ‘rice’ out of the cauliflower. I used a small food processor to chop the cauliflower. Initially I tried to do it in my Vitamix, but the mixture is too dry, and even though I know the Vitamix could make short work of the cauliflower florets if I had the motivation to use the tamper, I just didn’t want to bother. Instead, I transferred everything to the food processor and that did the trick quickly and easily.
You can do this cauliflower rice recipe with any sort of meat or shrimp, tofu, or without protein if you want. You can also use any sort of vegetables you have wilting in the fridge – so it’s a fabulous way to use up your almost-bad produce. I used frozen peas because that’s what I had on hand and I know my kids like them. This dish was a huge hit with the kids, by the way. They’re huge cauliflower fiends and they gobbled this up!
One thing – use a really big frying pan for making this. I used a pan that wasn’t big enough, and I got cauliflower all over the stovetop.
Oh – and about the pictures. It’s sort of hard to make something like this look attractive, so please keep that in mind 🙂
Serves 4
1 large head of cauliflower
1.5-2 cups of peas or any other vegetable – you can use corn kernels, diced carrots, chopped peppers, etc
1 lb of any raw protein such as chicken, shrimp, tofu. I used chicken, as you can see in the photos
2 raw eggs, lightly scrambled
1T avocado or other neutral oil
2T sesame oil
½ yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ t ginger, microplaned
2-3T soy sauce
Wash and dry cauliflower.
Cut the florets off of the stalk, ensuring that they are in semi-small pieces (not huge chunks – this is just for ease of chopping them down in the processor). Place the florets into a food processor and chop until they’re in very small, fine pieces. You may have to do this step in two or three batches, depending on how big or small your food processor is. Set the cauliflower ‘rice’ aside.
Using high heat, heat the oils in a large frying pan.
Add the onions, garlic, and ginger and cook until the onions are browned.
Add the protein and stir fry until the protein is almost cooked through.
Add the cauliflower and the vegetables and stir fry for another 5-7 minutes.
Make a bare space in the middle of the pan by pushing the rice to the sides, and pour the beaten eggs into the space. Wait a few seconds for the eggs to cook, then continue to stir fry the rice until the egg is mixed in and cooked thoroughly.
Add the soy sauce and toss into the rice.
Remove from the heat and serve.
