Veggie Bulk to Rice/Pasta

cc3833
cc3833 Posts: 80 Member
edited December 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Figured I would share... Because for some reason this took me years to figure out...

I've been trying to address my binge/emotional eating. And I tried swapping out my rice/pasta completely for zoodles or riced cauliflower etc. While I like those veggies the texture just isn't there for me.

Recently I decided to do 65% riced cauliflower and 35% regular rice and today I did riced cauliflower in my angel hair pasta. And man do I love it! I'm getting my veggies in and I get to eat a pretty big portion for a quarter of the calories!

I've been here for years losing/gaining so this time around I'm not eliminating any type of food but trying to concentrate on cooking for more nutrition and weight loss if that makes sense.
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Replies

  • kosseychick
    kosseychick Posts: 244 Member
    That's a great idea! I'm going to try that. Thanks for the idea!🙂
  • cc3833
    cc3833 Posts: 80 Member
    You're welcome! Hope it works for you too!!
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    I'm 6 years into maintenance and I just started doing this a few weeks ago-you figured it out way faster than I did LOL.

    I love rice bowls and now do 1 serving regular rice (1/2c) and then 1/2c riced cauliflower. Then I add my regular steamers bag of CA blend veggies, a protein (either chicken, beans or shrimp), and then a sauce (sweet n' sour, soy sauce, teriyaki etc). I could eat this every day :#
  • cc3833
    cc3833 Posts: 80 Member
    edited March 2019
    OMG That sounds really good! I definitely should try this out! I loveeee shrimp!

    Haha that's why I figured I'd share. Seems kinda silly now thinking about it. Kinda like all the food scale tricks people have and I was doing it the hard way for a while.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    That's a great idea, I'll have to try it too. I'm kind of the same as you, where I certainly like the riced and pasta-like vegetables, but they just aren't a great replacement for actual rice and pasta. The texture is where it gets me too, I'm such a texture eater.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    I do green beans with half a portion of pasta.

    Cauliflower mash, with one medium potato, and a bit of cheese and butter is delicious.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited March 2019
    I discovered Cauliflower Mac And Cheese recently. It replaces one of the two cups of uncooked macaroni with 2.5 C cauli. It's still pretty caloric, but not as much as my JOC recipe, and just as yummy.

    https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2018/10/01/cauliflower-mac-and-cheese-recipe/
  • DarkNightBrightDays
    DarkNightBrightDays Posts: 32 Member
    I really love this thread! I have tried all kinds of skinny pasta/noodles etc but I had not thought about replacing some of my beloved rice with cauliflower. If you have any similar tricks feel free to share :smiley:
  • JohnBarth
    JohnBarth Posts: 672 Member
    Last night, we had a "pasta" dish: Sausage, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, onion, mushroom, sauce. In the past, I'd have added some rotini pasta or something. Instead, I just used more peppers. We didn't miss the pasta a bit!
  • donnapal79
    donnapal79 Posts: 30 Member
    I usually add cabbage to my rice to bulk it up, zucchini or spaghetti squash to pasta, mushrooms to ground meat. Definitely can't do full on replacements.
  • Dreamwa1ker
    Dreamwa1ker Posts: 196 Member
    Been trying to increase my fiber intake, so this week I added cannellini beans (white kidney beans) to bulk up my pasta dish. It was tasty!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    donnapal79 wrote: »
    I usually add cabbage to my rice to bulk it up, zucchini or spaghetti squash to pasta, mushrooms to ground meat. Definitely can't do full on replacements.

    Oh, this "Lazy" Cabbage Roll Casserole recipe probably has more cabbage to rice than traditional cabbage rolls, which I stopped making decades ago b/c they were too much work. I stocked up on cabbage for St Patrick's Day and will have to make some of this. Like other reviewers, I halved it.

    https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/14690/cabbage-roll-casserole/
  • cc3833
    cc3833 Posts: 80 Member
    These are some good ideas!

    @JohnBarth And sometimes I don't miss the rice or pasta in dishes but some days I just want it lol.

    @kshama2001 I have made this keto recipe for cauliflower mac and cheese (I don't do keto but I do use recipes from all kinds of WOE)

    https://www.ruled.me/cauliflower-mac-cheese/

    @Dreamwa1ker I've been trying to do that as well... And surprise surprise once I started doing this it was much easier to get an appropriate amount of fiber 😁. I gotta give those beans a try
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I make a pilaf sort of affair when I do rice as a side. Saute up garlic, small chopped mushrooms and pancetta, then add the riced cauliflower and brown rice, probably in about the same ratio as you used. With some salt and pepper this is incredibly tasty and you can get a lot of bulk, and goes with a lot of things.
  • cc3833
    cc3833 Posts: 80 Member
    @MelanieCN77 that sounds good! I like mushrooms but I never really know what to make with them... So this is definitely worth a shot!
  • 303lissy
    303lissy Posts: 427 Member
    I made a really good "bolognese" sauce (recipe was vegan, but I added chicken broth) in my slow cooker yesterday loaded with veggies. Zucchini, carrots, celery, and onions with lentils. Last night I had it over chickpea pasta. Tonight I'm gonna try it over buttersquash noodles I've had in my freezer.

    I've made cauliflower rice and I never considered adding regular rice to it to bulk it up! Rice is definitely a weakness I have.
  • gogetemrogue
    gogetemrogue Posts: 80 Member
    You can also add spinach or arugula to your sauce of choice to veg it out a little bit more. You'd be surprised at how much spinach you can put in a pot of sauce without affecting the taste all that much!
  • cc3833
    cc3833 Posts: 80 Member
    @303lissy that sounds really good. I have to start utilizing my slow cooker more.

    @gogetemrogue Ahh spinach... that's a good one, I hadn't thought of that.

    If anyone has any simple veggie full slow cooker recipes I would definitely appreciate it!!

  • 303lissy
    303lissy Posts: 427 Member
    @cc3833 here's the recipe I used - https://www.simplywhisked.com/slow-cooker-lentil-bolognese/

    It says to add 5 cups of liquid - that seemed like a lot. I did 4 and it was still pretty thin. Next time I make this, I think I'll cut it down to 3 or 2.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,189 Member
    edited March 2019
    Saute spinach, arugula, mushrooms and onions in olive oil and add the mix to pasta of your choice or rice. I only use 2oz of dry pasta for my husband and me, and it is plenty and enough.

    I sometimes use edamame pasta instead of the regular one. I am not a pasta lover so I don't care about the different texture.
  • kam3190
    kam3190 Posts: 157 Member
    In the food and nutrition forum there is a post called Volume eaters thread... It's on the first page(Im link illiterate lol) but it's all posts about people who eat bulk low calorie stuff add ins etc like this if you want to take a read
  • jflongo
    jflongo Posts: 289 Member
    I make a Vegan Recipe like this just about every week. Has Medium to High carbs, Medium Protein, and low fat, packed with vitamins and minerals. I throw everything into my instant pot, and set it at 30 minutes, comes out perfect every time. I do add the Nutritional Yeast after it has cooked though and mix it in. I vary this all the time based on what we have and what may be going bad in the next couple of days in the fridge.

    Each serving is normally in the 430 - 500 gram range based on what I put in it, makes 10 servings. I have 1 - 2 servings of this every day, and it's very low cost to make per meal. I always use bagged dry lentils, quinoa, beans, rice, what ever I have available. I also crumble up the Tofu, you wouldn't even know it's there.

    17 Ingredients Edit Recipe
    100.00 gram, nutritional yeast
    8.73 cups (85 g), Fresh Spinach
    7.50 cup, vegetable broth
    0.87 cup (100g), Pinto Beans (Frijoles Pintos)
    0.70 cup uncooked, Wild Rice
    2.52 c. (45g), Lentils (Dry)
    3.01 package - 85g, Extra Firm Silken Tofu
    8.40 oz, Mushrooms
    0.25 tsp, Sea Salt Grinder
    1 tsp, Black Peppercorn Grinder Mccormick
    2.50 tsp (1g), Organic Cayenne Pepper
    2 tbsp, Spices, onion powder
    1 tbsp, crushed red pepper
    2 tbsp, Garlic Powder
    1 tbsp, Paprika
    6 tsp., Organic Chipotle Chili Peppers (Grounded)
    2 tbsp (6g), Corrected Ground Cumin

    Nutrition Facts
    Servings 10.0
    Amount Per Serving
    calories 404
    Total Fat 4 g 6 %
    Saturated Fat 0 g 0 %
    Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
    Trans Fat 0 g
    Cholesterol 0 mg 0 %
    Sodium 517 mg 22 %
    Potassium 632 mg 18 %
    Total Carbohydrate 50 g 17 %
    Dietary Fiber 10 g 41 %
    Sugars 2 g
    Protein 30 g 60 %
    Vitamin A 58 %
    Vitamin C 17 %
    Calcium 12 %
    Iron 40 %
  • rickiimarieee
    rickiimarieee Posts: 2,212 Member
    How do you guys make the veggie into rice form?
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    I buy Carba-Nada noodles from amazon. Taste and texture like egg noodles, 170 calories per serving: 1.5 fat, 24 carb (7 grams of fiber) and 15 protein. Awesome stats for pasta.

    I also love quinoa. It’s a complete plant protein. And very versatile. I batch cook it in my rice cooker.

    I use riced veggies in my eggs. I sauté them up first and then add in some quinoa and then the egg whites.
  • Beckenzahler
    Beckenzahler Posts: 26 Member
    rickiimarieee wrote: »
    How do you guys make the veggie into rice form?

    I just grate cauliflower by hand, however I would imagine most food processors can do it. Tried once with my blender, not a success....
  • Susieq_1994
    Susieq_1994 Posts: 5,361 Member
    cc3833 wrote: »
    Figured I would share... Because for some reason this took me years to figure out...

    I've been trying to address my binge/emotional eating. And I tried swapping out my rice/pasta completely for zoodles or riced cauliflower etc. While I like those veggies the texture just isn't there for me.

    Recently I decided to do 65% riced cauliflower and 35% regular rice and today I did riced cauliflower in my angel hair pasta. And man do I love it! I'm getting my veggies in and I get to eat a pretty big portion for a quarter of the calories!

    I've been here for years losing/gaining so this time around I'm not eliminating any type of food but trying to concentrate on cooking for more nutrition and weight loss if that makes sense.

    I recently discovered this myself! 100% cauliflower was a total turnoff for me, it was soggy and not at all like rice. Once I made it 50% rice and 50% cauliflower, I hardly even noticed the cauliflower. :)
  • Susieq_1994
    Susieq_1994 Posts: 5,361 Member
    rickiimarieee wrote: »
    How do you guys make the veggie into rice form?

    I pulse it in a food processor. :) If I run the processor continuously the cauliflower ends up too fine, so I do about 20 1-2 second pulses for coarse, rice-like crumbles.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited March 2019
    rickiimarieee wrote: »
    How do you guys make the veggie into rice form?

    I just buy it pre-done, they're in the freezer veggies section. I can get a bag of rice cauliflower for around $1 at Aldi.
  • rickiimarieee
    rickiimarieee Posts: 2,212 Member
    Susieq_1994 wrote: »
    rickiimarieee wrote: »
    How do you guys make the veggie into rice form?

    I pulse it in a food processor. :) If I run the processor continuously the cauliflower ends up too fine, so I do about 20 1-2 second pulses for coarse, rice-like crumbles.
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    rickiimarieee wrote: »
    How do you guys make the veggie into rice form?

    I just buy it pre-done, they're in the freezer veggies section. I can get a bag of rice cauliflower for around $1 at Aldi.
    This is great. I’ll look for it!
    Beckenzahler wrote: »
    rickiimarieee wrote: »
    How do you guys make the veggie into rice form?

    I just grate cauliflower by hand, however I would imagine most food processors can do it. Tried once with my blender, not a success....

    Thank you all!
  • cc3833
    cc3833 Posts: 80 Member
    Great recipes everyone! Gotta get quinoa back into the rotation!

    @rickiimarieee and you can make it like they said food processor, grate by hand, but I've been trying to cut down on time so I just buy it already riced and frozen from the grocery store. They sell it with broccoli too.
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