Cauliflower Rice

CasIsAHorse
CasIsAHorse Posts: 9 Member
edited November 27 in Food and Nutrition
Hey FitnessPals,

I’ve recently discovered cauliflower rice, and I think it’s great... with sauce. But I tried eating it with some flavoured chicken and it is not my fave.

Does anyone know a way to make it taste slightly less like mashed up tiny bits of cauliflower, and more like an actual food?

If that’s an unrealistic expectation, I’m just going to have to use real rice sometimes, I’m ok with that! Just thought I’d ask in the interest of low carb replacements.

Meanwhile, if anyone can think of something exactly like pasta that isn’t pasta and has half the calories, hit me up because I have a serious problem!

Thanks folks x
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Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    There is no adequate substitute for pasta for Mediterranean-style dishes - I just eat half the pasta ;)
  • hroderick
    hroderick Posts: 756 Member
    I like scrambled eggs in place of pasta
  • ThereAreManyNames
    ThereAreManyNames Posts: 54 Member
    Seasoning is important, and also you want to make sure you're not overcooking it since that does change the flavor to a less neutral and more obviously cauliflower-ish one. You describing it as 'mashed up' kind of made me wonder about that.

    There's this spicy Asian chili garlic sauce I buy that pairs up really well with it, otherwise the usual standbys like garlic powder and paprika or cooking it with bell pepper and onion work pretty well.
  • rachel780mpg
    rachel780mpg Posts: 83 Member
    I like a mixture of brown rice and cauliflower rice cooked in chicken broth. I cook the rice and add frozen cauli rice towards the end. As for pasta, I like making noodles out of zucchini. That doesn't meet your requirement of tasting exactly like pasta tho.
  • annamaries13
    annamaries13 Posts: 12 Member
    My recommendation is to mix it with regular rice - having some of the fluffy rice texture you expect helps the cauliflower texture to just blend in. So you can then eat a satisfying portion size with way fewer calories. This works for me, anyway. Good luck!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    There is no adequate substitute for pasta for Mediterranean-style dishes - I just eat half the pasta ;)

    This. I do half pasta half green beans quite often
  • AEYBet
    AEYBet Posts: 1 Member
    I like mine with oriental seasoning, or used with oriental dishes. I have tried it plain, and it is not the same. I like the idea of seasoning so I will have to try that.

    As far as pasta, I would go with whole wheat or vegetable pasta (Complex carbs). They still have calories, but they will sustain longer than white enriched pasta (Simple carbs). You won't feel as hungry as quickly. I learned that from a dietitian.
  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
    The only time I eat cauliflower rice and like is it with stir-fry. I buy the kind that you cook in the steam bag in the microwave and top it with stir-fry chicken with vegetables and sauce. I'm getting more of the filling texture. Otherwise, I don't think it's great.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    annamaries13 wrote: »
    My recommendation is to mix it with regular rice - having some of the fluffy rice texture you expect helps the cauliflower texture to just blend in. So you can then eat a satisfying portion size with way fewer calories. This works for me, anyway. Good luck!

    This. Use it to bulk out regular rice.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    There is no adequate substitute for pasta for Mediterranean-style dishes - I just eat half the pasta ;)

    This. I do half pasta half green beans quite often

    I've been meaning to make Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes, and Green Beans. Will try this one as soon as the green beans in my garden start popping:

    https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/6078-pasta-with-green-beans-and-potatoes-with-pesto

    19COOKING-PESTO1-articleLarge.jpg
  • ThereAreManyNames
    ThereAreManyNames Posts: 54 Member
    edited July 2018
    Has everyone forgotten the humble spaghetti squash? I have a spiralizer but it's still my favorite, I preferred it to noodles even back when I was still eating noodles.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    @kshama2001 That looks wonderful. Have you tried it with asparagus, too? Let's have some for lunch.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    While I love cauliflower, I am not a huge fan of cauliflower rice, it is way too much work to make it unless you buy it prechopped. Instead I add roasted cauliflower to my dishes.

    For pasta I love zucchini noodles or sometimes shirataki or konjac noodles (like NuPasta) in more Asian dishes or with a cheese sauce (low-fat laughing cow and some parmesean), in soups too.

    Otherwise you can eat a smaller serving of real durum wheat pasta or rice... I usually like many servings so I will save it for my higher calorie days and go all out.
    Mari22na wrote: »
    Cauli-rice and zoodles, faux foods. I've tasted cauli-rice pizza and zoodle courgetti spaghetti. I'd rather eat twigs, pinecones, dirt and old tennis shoes. So I eat the real things and pay as I go. Simply track my portions and enjoy every single bite. Faux foods have a blowback component. The food reckoning. They leave you lingering long and having thoughts about the real things.

    I have no found this to be true at all. And I don't feel like my zoodles or konjac noodles are faux foods.. they are very real to me, they are just different from pasta or other noodles... just like soba noodles are different from rice noodles, like vermicelli is different from durum wheat pasta.
  • ZephieC
    ZephieC Posts: 162 Member
    ThereAreManyNames wrote: »
    Has everyone forgotten the humble spaghetti squash? I have a spiralizer but it's still my favorite, I preferred it to noodles even back when I was still eating noodles.

    Me too! In fact I'm having it for super tonight. Lots of fibre and low calories.
  • stitcherymart
    stitcherymart Posts: 1 Member
    Here is a receipt that is low carb, but not really low fat. It is quite tasty though. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a51638/cauliflower-grilled-cheese-recipe/
  • allison8668
    allison8668 Posts: 885 Member
    I just started eating the riced cauliflower. I like to make it like fried rice. I add in scrambled eggs, soy sauce, butter spray, and then maybe some other veggies and/or protein. (and then I put it in my Pusheen rice bowl and eat it with chopsticks!)
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    Faux = made in imitation, a facsimile. Tofu turkey, tofu cheese. Like imitation crab salad or imitation calamari. I call it plastic fish. It's not crab but a chemical sheetstorm of ingredients manufactured together to resemble real crab salad with a tad of some white fish that is ground and bound together with glue. Plastic fish will get you by in a pinch but it does taste sweet. Tofu turkey = soybeans. It's a real ingredient but it doesn't taste like roasted turkey. You get the drift. There are all kinds of artificial flavors like raspberry and they may imitate or mimic enough to fool your tastebuds, kinda sorta. Courgettes are real but they don't taste like homemade fettuccine.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    I think they make a black bean pasta. check your local "health food" store. 25grams of protein and 9 grams of fiber per serving me believes.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    psychod787 wrote: »
    I think they make a black bean pasta. check your local "health food" store. 25grams of protein and 9 grams of fiber per serving me believes.

    The calorie count is pretty much the same as regular pasta though.
  • Thehardmakesitworthit
    Thehardmakesitworthit Posts: 838 Member
    I enjoy the Birdseye Vegetable noodles....in the frozen veggie section; They have a really great texture but as others have pointed out, the calorie count is not much different that regular noodles.
  • Ninkasi
    Ninkasi Posts: 173 Member
    I have a really good rice pilaf recipe I got from a former coworker. I sub riced cauliflower for the actual rice and it turns out fine. (Of course I like cauliflower a lot so it's NBD to me.)
  • Dani9585
    Dani9585 Posts: 215 Member
    I like making curry dishes and putting that over riced cauliflower. I've never been a big rice fan (we ate too much of it growing up), but this works nicely for me.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    I tried it and thought it was yucky, for lack of a more technical term :tongue: Did not care for the taste or texture, even buried in a flavorful curry sauce. I'll just have to stick with rice in appropriate portions, I guess!
  • vegeh
    vegeh Posts: 3 Member
    I pair cauliflower fried rice with the following sauce:
    1/4 cup soy sauce
    2 tbsp brown sugar
    1 tbsp sriracha sauce (I add more because I like heat)
    1 tsp sesame seed oil
    2 tsp rice wine vinegar

    I always stirfry other veggies in and it’s delish. Sometimes I’ll add brown rice.
  • peggym4640
    peggym4640 Posts: 156 Member
    I like a little butter and pepper on my cauliflower rice. So good!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited July 2018
    Mari22na wrote: »
    Cauli-rice and zoodles, faux foods. I've tasted cauli-rice pizza and zoodle courgetti spaghetti. I'd rather eat twigs, pinecones, dirt and old tennis shoes. So I eat the real things and pay as I go. Simply track my portions and enjoy every single bite. Faux foods have a blowback component. The food reckoning. They leave you lingering long and having thoughts about the real things.
    ThereAreManyNames wrote: »
    If you don't consider vegetables real food I guess.

    Well, cauliflower is a real food that I like. As is rice. But I can't argue with calling cauli-rice a faux food. I made it...once.

    I made spaghetti squash once as well. That was plenty.

    I love veggies. But I also love carbs, and IMO non-starchy veggies make terrible substitutes for carbs.
  • KarenAnnne
    KarenAnnne Posts: 190 Member
    I just made cauliflower risotto this evening. I just cook it like rice risotto and it turns out great. This time, I minced garlic with it. I used the hot low sodium veggie broth method. Takes a good 20 minutes and somewhat a hands on process but the end result was a flavorful, creamy dish that I can't wait to have left overs tomorrow.
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