Guiltless Rice
A beautiful head of cauliflower makes me swoon. That's right. It just does it for me. And when it's organic or locally grown, I find it completely irresistible.
Call me weird, but it's true. A member of the cruciferous vegetable family, cauliflower is loaded with Vitamin C, Vitamin K, folate and fiber.
David's not all that crazy about cauliflower, but my dogs absolutely love it roasted! So I cook (and eat) it as often as I can. Though lately I have made more than my fair share of mashed and roasted cauliflower and I just can't eat it anymore!
So that means looking for a new way to prepare it because I simply could not walk away from this magnificent and organic cauliflower the other day. And I am sure you can see why.
I remembered seeing a recipe for cauliflower rice on a blog recently and decided to give it a try. What did we have to lose? Especially now that the new year has started, we are more dedicated to eliminating whatever bad carbs we can from our diet.
And since cauliflower is peaking at area farmers markets, pick one up and do just what I did. It's almost as good as real rice!
Buen provecho!
Cauliflower Rice
The Cowgirl Gourmet (http://www.thecowgirlgourmet.blogspot.com/) borrowed and tweaked this recipe from both Elana's Pantry and Kayla's Kitchen
Print recipe
If you are looking for creative ways to decrease or minimize your carb intake without feeling deprived, this is a great way to fake yourself out. It looks like rice, it tastes like rice (with a little cauliflower). The caramelized onions and the crunch of the celery make this an unbelievably tasty concoction that even those who despise cauliflower will fall for.
4 Tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup celery, finely diced
1 head cauliflower, trimmed and decored
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, to garnish
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onion for about 10 minutes, or until soft and slightly caramelized.
While the onions are cooking, slice the cauliflower.
Place half of the cauliflower in a food processor using the "S" blade. Slowly pulse until it becomes the texture of rice but be careful not to over-process lest you be left with cauliflower mush. Process to the point where there is still a bit of texture to it. When the first half of the cauliflower is pulsed to perfection, put it in a big bowl and then add the remaining half. Again, pulse to perfection.
Now it should be time to add the celery to the onions and saute for 3-5 minutes.
Add 1 more Tablespoon of olive oil just before you add the cauliflower to the skillet, stir to coat and cook 5-10 minutes. Taste it after 5 minutes to see if you like the texture or whether it needs a bit more cooking time. (I cooked mine about 8 minutes.) When it's cooked to your liking, add the salt and stir to combine.
Serve immediately. When plating, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
Call me weird, but it's true. A member of the cruciferous vegetable family, cauliflower is loaded with Vitamin C, Vitamin K, folate and fiber.
David's not all that crazy about cauliflower, but my dogs absolutely love it roasted! So I cook (and eat) it as often as I can. Though lately I have made more than my fair share of mashed and roasted cauliflower and I just can't eat it anymore!
So that means looking for a new way to prepare it because I simply could not walk away from this magnificent and organic cauliflower the other day. And I am sure you can see why.
I remembered seeing a recipe for cauliflower rice on a blog recently and decided to give it a try. What did we have to lose? Especially now that the new year has started, we are more dedicated to eliminating whatever bad carbs we can from our diet.
And since cauliflower is peaking at area farmers markets, pick one up and do just what I did. It's almost as good as real rice!
Buen provecho!
Cauliflower Rice
The Cowgirl Gourmet (http://www.thecowgirlgourmet.blogspot.com/) borrowed and tweaked this recipe from both Elana's Pantry and Kayla's Kitchen
Print recipe
If you are looking for creative ways to decrease or minimize your carb intake without feeling deprived, this is a great way to fake yourself out. It looks like rice, it tastes like rice (with a little cauliflower). The caramelized onions and the crunch of the celery make this an unbelievably tasty concoction that even those who despise cauliflower will fall for.
4 Tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup celery, finely diced
1 head cauliflower, trimmed and decored
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, to garnish
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onion for about 10 minutes, or until soft and slightly caramelized.
While the onions are cooking, slice the cauliflower.
Place half of the cauliflower in a food processor using the "S" blade. Slowly pulse until it becomes the texture of rice but be careful not to over-process lest you be left with cauliflower mush. Process to the point where there is still a bit of texture to it. When the first half of the cauliflower is pulsed to perfection, put it in a big bowl and then add the remaining half. Again, pulse to perfection.
Now it should be time to add the celery to the onions and saute for 3-5 minutes.
Add 1 more Tablespoon of olive oil just before you add the cauliflower to the skillet, stir to coat and cook 5-10 minutes. Taste it after 5 minutes to see if you like the texture or whether it needs a bit more cooking time. (I cooked mine about 8 minutes.) When it's cooked to your liking, add the salt and stir to combine.
Serve immediately. When plating, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
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