Veggie Bulk to Rice/Pasta

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cc3833
cc3833 Posts: 80 Member
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
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    That's a great idea! I'm going to try that. Thanks for the idea!🙂
  • cc3833
    cc3833 Posts: 80 Member
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    You're welcome! Hope it works for you too!!
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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: 27,988 Member
    edited March 2019
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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: 27,988 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    @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
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    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
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    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
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    @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
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    @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: 4,146 Member
    edited March 2019
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    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.

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