Cauliflower Rice help

farmers_daughter
farmers_daughter Posts: 1,632 Member
edited November 26 in Food and Nutrition
Question 1: Is it better/easier to buy frozen bags of cauliflower and grate them? Or buy a fresh whole head and freeze what you don't use? I guess I've never frozen a cauliflower head before. But I want to make it last.
(I'm feeding 3 people per meal)
Question 2: Anybody ever put grated cauliflower in their meatloaf? for kind of a "filler" - is that dumb? I like my meatloaf kind of loose - not so that you can sandwich slice it. More of scoop it with a spatula type consistency.

Replies

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Better is what you'll actually do. I buy the BIG bag at costco which has 4 smaller bags in it. It is our go to for stir fries these days. If we were buying fresh heads and grating them, we'd be doing it a LOT less often.
    No help on the second question. Sorry.
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    edited June 2018
    Not sure about cauliflower in meatloaf, but I add zucchini in mine.
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,342 Member
    to question number two, I bet you could use grated cauliflower in your meatloaf but I would make sure to really press out all of the moisture so it's not too wet. Might as well try it, it could turn out great!
  • peggym4640
    peggym4640 Posts: 156 Member
    Before the bags were available I’d create my own with a food processor and it creates a mess. Buy the bags and save yourself a ton of time on making and clean up.
  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
    edited June 2018
    farmers_daughter wrote: »
    Question 1: Is it better/easier to buy frozen bags of cauliflower and grate them? Or buy a fresh whole head and freeze what you don't use? I guess I've never frozen a cauliflower head before. But I want to make it last.
    (I'm feeding 3 people per meal)
    Question 2: Anybody ever put grated cauliflower in their meatloaf? for kind of a "filler" - is that dumb? I like my meatloaf kind of loose - not so that you can sandwich slice it. More of scoop it with a spatula type consistency.

    Q1: It's easier to buy frozen bags, yes. Personally, using fresh cauliflower is better when considering you have less moisture to deal with, not to mention a rubberized vegetable. We tend to pop our pulverized pulsed cauliflower into the oven to dry it out a little, which in my opinion lends a nuttiness to it. To make your cauliflower rice last, buy the fresh version, prep it, then freeze for future use.

    If you're thinking to make a potatoes substitute cauliflower mash, frozen is the way to go. Use a ricer, not a pulsed blender method.

    Q2:. Yes. I prefer to use a fresh batch of cauliflower. Prepped and baked @280°F for 35 mins or a little more. It has to be dry. Pulverize to a grainy consistency. Add as you would breadcrumbs. Much like breadcrumbs, you have to add flavour to it. If you prefer it loose, frozen might work. Experiment. It's fun.

  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    If you don't mind spending a bit more, frozen riced cauliflower is way easier and less messy than making it yourself. I've made it many times in the food processor and even if I'm really careful, my kitchen still ends up covered in little bits of cauliflower.
  • farmers_daughter
    farmers_daughter Posts: 1,632 Member
    toxikon wrote: »
    If you don't mind spending a bit more, frozen riced cauliflower is way easier and less messy than making it yourself. I've made it many times in the food processor and even if I'm really careful, my kitchen still ends up covered in little bits of cauliflower.

    I've heard of this but not found it in our local stores yet! I will eventually find it!! :)
  • farmers_daughter
    farmers_daughter Posts: 1,632 Member
    Duh - I never thought of taking fresh - grating it then freezing it! See I just needed someone else to say it. Thank you!
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    I really like the convenience of having the frozen bags of already riced cauliflower. I've also enjoyed picking up some of the ones that are already flavored with garlic/herb. It makes it easier for me to add another veggie to a mail with minimal prep time which results in me adding more veggies to my diet. The less steps I have to take to get it to my plate, the more likely I am to eat it....
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,744 Member
    I agree with @777Gemma888 re: adding it to your meatloaf. Whether you use fresh or frozen, definitely roast it in the oven first and season it. That way it will be a filler and a added flavor to your meatloaf.
  • Thehardmakesitworthit
    Thehardmakesitworthit Posts: 838 Member
    farmers_daughter wrote: »
    toxikon wrote: »
    If you don't mind spending a bit more, frozen riced cauliflower is way easier and less messy than making it yourself. I've made it many times in the food processor and even if I'm really careful, my kitchen still ends up covered in little bits of cauliflower.

    I've heard of this but not found it in our local stores yet! I will eventually find it!! :)

    I buy it at Trader Joes or Kroger
  • workinonit1956
    workinonit1956 Posts: 1,043 Member
    The frozen is definitely easier, but if you want to use fresh, a food processor makes it quick and neat. No bits of cauliflower flying all over. I’ve never used it in meatloaf. I’m sure it would taste good, you’d have to experiment with the moisture aspect of it.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    Would you follow up on this thread after you work it into the meatloaf and let us know how it goes? I'm really curious and think it's a brilliant plan.
  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
    Thehardmakesitworthit wrote: »
    farmers_daughter wrote: »
    toxikon wrote: »
    If you don't mind spending a bit more, frozen riced cauliflower is way easier and less messy than making it yourself. I've made it many times in the food processor and even if I'm really careful, my kitchen still ends up covered in little bits of cauliflower.

    I've heard of this but not found it in our local stores yet! I will eventually find it!! :)

    I buy it at Trader Joes or Kroger

    You could always request your store manager to stock it.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited June 2018
    Thehardmakesitworthit wrote: »
    farmers_daughter wrote: »
    toxikon wrote: »
    If you don't mind spending a bit more, frozen riced cauliflower is way easier and less messy than making it yourself. I've made it many times in the food processor and even if I'm really careful, my kitchen still ends up covered in little bits of cauliflower.

    I've heard of this but not found it in our local stores yet! I will eventually find it!! :)

    I buy it at Trader Joes or Kroger

    And Costco has huge backs with smaller bags inside.
  • Stockholm_Andy
    Stockholm_Andy Posts: 803 Member
    Bags of grated cauliflower (not frozen) cost about 8 times what a head does per kilo over here. You can't even get frozen grated.
  • WilmaValley
    WilmaValley Posts: 1,092 Member
    These are great ideas, I love cauliflower!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    toxikon wrote: »
    If you don't mind spending a bit more, frozen riced cauliflower is way easier and less messy than making it yourself. I've made it many times in the food processor and even if I'm really careful, my kitchen still ends up covered in little bits of cauliflower.

    I riced cauliflower once in the food processor and that was more than enough. I like cauliflower; don't see the point of ricing it. It's not going to trick my brain into thinking I'm having rice. It may look like rice from a distance, but it sure doesn't taste like it.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    emmamcgarity wrote: »
    Would you follow up on this thread after you work it into the meatloaf and let us know how it goes? I'm really curious and think it's a brilliant plan.

    Adding finely grated veggies to ground beef for burgers or meatloaf is something I've been doing for a while now, since I had to go gluten free and couldn't use bread crumbs - zucchini, cauliflower, red bell pepper, you name it.

    It works great, IMHO. The main thing you need to do is to check out how much moisture the veggie has. Fresher veggies are going to have more moisture content, obviously, and some veggies naturally have more moisture in general.

    If you have a high moisture veggie, you either add less of it, or you add more of a binding agent like eggs. If you have less moisture content, you can use more of the veggie. I personally don't roast the veggies beforehand (unless it is for flavor) as the moisture content of the veggies just makes a juicier meat, in my experience. It takes a little fiddling to get the ratio of veggie to meat right so it doesn't get TOO juicy and fall apart, but it's quite nice.
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