Cauliflower "Fried Rice"
It's week #18 of my 2018 challenge to try one new whole-food plant-based (WFPB) recipe each week. My mom introduced me to this recipe. She found it at skinnytaste.com. I tasted hers, loved it, and knew I needed to post it on the blog!
The original recipe calls for eggs. I left out the eggs to keep it plant-based. I also changed some of the ingredients, based on what I had on hand. You can get creative with this. The options for veggies and seasonings are endless.
What I like about this recipe (besides the fact that it's healthy):
- It's a unique and delicious way to serve up lots of veggies.
- Using cauliflower instead of rice keeps the calories lower and the fiber higher.
- It's surprisingly easy.
- It reheats well.
What I ended up using/doing:
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 6 green onions (1 bunch), sliced thin, with green and white parts separated
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 bag (12 oz.) of frozen peas and carrots
- 2 Tbsp olive oil or water (Light-tasting, not extra-virgin. If you want it oil-free, you can substitute water.)
- Soy sauce or tamari to taste (I used 1 Tbsp.)
- Clean the cauliflower and cut into florets.
- "Rice" the cauliflower. You can do this manually with a cheese grater, or you can use a food processor. Both work well, but the food processor is much easier. Put half of the cauliflower florets in the food processor at a time and pulse until it reaches rice consistency. (Avoid over-processing, as this will cause it to be mushy.)
- Transfer the riced cauliflower onto paper towels to absorb excess moisture.
- In a large saute pan or wok, heat the olive oil (or water, if you prefer), garlic, and white parts of the green onion over medium heat until aromatic.
- Add the frozen peas and carrots. Saute until tender and bright in color.
- Add the cauliflower, green parts of the onion, and soy sauce or tamari. Saute until tender. (Avoid over-cooking, which will make it mushy.)
- Enjoy!
Note: If your pan isn't very big, consider cooking half of the ingredients at a time to avoid excess moisture pooling in the pan.
This post was originally published on May 9, 2018.