Ok, I kept the word “rice” in here so you’d know what the hell I was trying to get at, but there’s no actual rice because STARRRRRRRRRRCHYCARRRRRB, but there IS cauliflower “rice”.

If you had asked me if cauliflower was going to do the trick in this recipe a few months ago, I would have thrown something at your head.

I was wrong. It’s amazing.  It’s amazing on its own, it’s amazing with a couple fried eggs, which is one of my favorite ways to eat it, and it’s great with any meat addition (within reason, sicko).

And you can make the cauliflower rice at home if you have a food processor – or are very patient with a large enough grade grater…but I’m lazy so I buy it already riced in the produce section of the grocery store.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

 

(All ingredients are approximate because it really doesn’t matter if you go a little heavy on some ingredients – use 100 cloves of garlic if that’s your thing.)

• 3 Cups Cauliflower Rice (1 ingredient: Cauliflower…don’t get pre-seasoned)
• 2 Cups raw white or “baby bella” mushrooms, rough chopped (not too fine, ¼” to ½” pieces)
• 2 Eggs, scrambled
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• ¼ C grated/shredded carrot (Optional – it’s a starchy veg, but I like the color it adds)
• Chicken stock
• 5 green onions, chopped with white and light green parts (toss the dry green ends or use for garnish)
• ½ tsp ginger root, minced
• Olive oil
• Sesame oil
• Soy Sauce
• Butter (optional)
• Salt & Pepper

Sautee mushrooms in a couple tablespoons of olive oil and sesame oil (about 1:1 ratio, maybe a little higher with the sesame oil depending on your preference). I added a small bit of butter to this as well because that’s how I like to sautee mushrooms.

Sautee until browned, add one 2 minced cloves of garlic, continue sauteeing until you think garlic has cooked down a bit (without burning it and making it bitter), remove from pan, set aside.

In same pan (add a little more oil if needed to keep from sticking), sautee eggs until JUST done (a little under is best), remove from pan, set aside.

In same pan, add more sesame oil and olive oil, add your cauliflower, and fresh ginger. Add enough chicken stock (or chicken stock if you’re not concerned with keeping the dish vegetarian) to dampen and steam the cauliflower rice but not so much that you’ll be left with a big pan of liquid.

Sautee until you feel like it’s CLOSE to the tenderness you want (just shy of tender, you don’t want to overcook it on the next step).

Add the ingredients you previously set aside back into the pan as well as another clove or two of minced garlic and soy sauce to taste (I’d say approximately ¼ Cup give or take depending on desired salt level and whether you want it to taste like a bowl of soy sauce).

Sautee until all ingredients are mixed through and the garlic has a chance to cook a bit. Toss in the green onions, sautee for another 10 seconds or so, salt & pepper to taste, then garnish with a bit more chopped green onion and serve.

And don’t eat the whole thing out of the pan like I did.

NOTE: You can give this more of a Thai flair if you use Coconut oil as your cooking oil, add a tsp of Fish Sauce and a quarter cup finely chopped red bell pepper during the cooking, and a handful of chopped Thai Basil and a squeeze of lime to it at the very end.