Cauliflower as the substitute carb?
Over the last few years, cauliflower became the magic ingredient that made people who were avoiding carbs feel ok about eating pizza, mashed potatoes, and rice. (Disclaimer: I was one of those people for a long time.) Cauliflower does indeed do a great job of turning itself into foods that remind you of other foods. The problem is that if you’re using cauliflower to pretend you’re eating something else, you still want the something else and you miss out on how great cauliflower really is. Cauliflower shouldn’t be a consolation prize!
Cauliflower is great. Period.
I’ve come around on carbs. Potatoes are nourishing, rice has its place in lots of dishes, and pizza… well, sometimes a good thin crust with pepperoni is just what you need that day.
All those things are great… and so is cauliflower. It doesn’t have to be a stand-in for anything – cauliflower is a first class ingredient that is delicious (and nutritious) all on its own. And it has plenty of good uses — rice is one of them.
Cauliflower rice – how to make it.
Option 1: The really easy way.
The easy answer to “how to make cauliflower rice” is: buy it in a package. A lot of big grocery stores have it packaged in the produce section, usually where you’d usually find bagged salad, broccoli, and other veggies.
Option 2: The food processor way.
But it’s also easy enough to make if you have a food processor. Buy a head of cauliflower, get rid of any leaves, slice off the bottom part of the stem, then use the rest. Chop the cauliflower into small enough pieces so they fit in the processor bowl (the pieces can be pretty big), and pulse until it looks like rice. You can use nearly all of the cauliflower – florets and stem.
Budget tip: Depending on time of year, packaged/convenience option may be the more economical one. Let the current price of cauliflower be your guide. When it’s in season, it can be inexpensive, and the heads are usually bigger (so you get more rice). In that case, buying fresh and making your own is the way to go. But there are times of year when tiny cauliflower heads are crazy expensive, and that’s when I start looking for packaged.
What to do with cauliflower rice?
Anything. Really.
Once you have cauliflower in riced form, use it as you would any kind of rice. If you want to use it as a side like normal rice, I find the easiest thing to do is microwave it. Add about a tablespoon of water, cover, and cook on high for a few minutes. If you like it crunchy, 1-2 minutes is enough to heat it. If you prefer it softer, cook it longer.
If you want to use it as fried rice, toss it in a pan and sauté it just like you would regular rice. The timing isn’t much different from regular fried rice; the difference is that because cauliflower is mostly water, be sure to use some kind of fat — oil or butter — to keep it from drying out or burning. Once the rice sarts cooking, just toss in whatever else you like – seasonings, veggies, tofu, shrimp…. the list is endless.
Cauliflower is amazing, and rice is just one of the many things that makes it so. Enjoy!