A cauliflower rice bowl can make a quick and easy lunch or dinner and it’s complete protein whether you use egg or tofu. I was reading about fried rice bowls in the new Thug Kitchen 101 book. They used leftover brown rice. I am enjoying using cauliflower in place of rice in a lot of dishes.
Go Prepared If It Helps You
My friend Elaine swears by packaged riced cauliflower. She prefers the frozen Trader Joe’s version over any fresh version. She cooks for one, so it’s easier for her to take out smaller amounts and not have to worry about the cauliflower going bad.
I’m all for spending the extra money on prepared vegetables. I love precut jicama. I buy the bags of lettuce. Whatever it takes to get you eating more veggies.
Now, let’s get inspired to make cauliflower fried rice.
I also prefer buying pre-riced cauliflower. I don’t own a food processor. Now that the kid is in college, I’m cooking for two. So I try to be aware of portions. It’s kind of awkward ending up with so much roast potatoes. But that’s another blog.
You can find the full recipe at Shape. Be warned. The video starts right away and has a loud soundtrack. And if you don’t pause it right when it finishes, they start to play ads that you can’t pause.
What Would I Change
I would use grapeseed oil to cook everything and then lightly drizzle the sesame oil on top along with some sesame seeds instead of almonds. But I definitely love the green onions.
One other tip I ran across is to scramble the eggs in the pan. I was hemming and hawing when I heard that. Then I started cracking the egg right into the pan when I make my veggie scrambles. I then use a wooden fork and just quickly scramble it up and then mix it to get it all evenly cooked and blended with the veggies.
I have a confession. I really don’t like eggs all that much. But I find I enjoy them when there’s veggies and cheese. So I enjoy quiche. I need to find the recipe for a cauliflower or potato crust instead of pie dough.
The matchstick cut carrots are a nice touch. But I wouldn’t hesitate to use the frozen peas and carrots mix that has diced carrots.
Frozen vegetables are a great way to always have the right amount of veggies on hand to quickly prepare.
Make It Dinner
If you wanted to be vegan, you could substitute tofu crumbles in place of the egg. You could expand on this dish with leftovers. If you had made a pork roast, you could dice up the leftover pork and mix that in.
Overall it’s a complete dinner by itself. It’s rather low in fat so you may find yourself getting hungry again in a shorter period of time.
You could also make this a side dish with barbecued pork spare ribs. Or add in some dumplings. I buy a bag of pork gyoza from my freezer section. This rice bowl is very light in calories, so you can balance it with something that’s not so super healthy. That’s not to say you can open the door to something drenched in sauce or grease. So just be mindful.
And be conscientious of sodium that’s in soy sauce.
