Want a 25-calorie (per cup!) replacement for rice?

DesertRains · January 2012

Just tried this tonight and it is AWESOME! I know a lot of you have tried the cauliflower substitute for mashed potatoes, but you can sub it for rice, too!

"Cauli-rice" (or Rice-aflower?!)

You will need:

1 head of fresh cauliflower
a food processor/blender
a microwavable bowl big enough to hold your final yield

Do this:

Cut the florets off of the cauliflower. You can use the stem as well, just cut it into manageable chunks. Process raw florets (do NOT cook first!) until they are uniform "grains" and pile into the bowl.

Microwave for 3-5 minutes, uncovered, until cauliflower is cooked. DO NOT add water, seasonings or butter before cooking, or you'll end up with mush. Just microwave the processed cauliflower all by itself. Any seasonings can be added after cooking. Fluff with a fork, add spices, serve with anything you would make rice with!

I made a low fat/low cal shrimp creole (which I can also post if anyone wants it) and served over this tonight. I felt like I was cheating! I added to the whole bowl of "rice" a few shakes of land o'lakes butter sprinkles, garlic powder, salt and black pepper.

Per cup (with butter sprinkles) - 25-30 calories per cup!

I'm going to try this with curry and ginger and also as a mock fried rice. Will report results!

SkinnyGirlFatBody · January 2012

This sounds very interesting, and it makes me want to try cauliflower again.

Jenn638 · January 2012

sounds interesting, but i am a rice lover so ill give it a try.... hmmm now if someone could find me a cheat for cheese and tortillas...

LuckyAng · January 2012

Awesome!! I already love cauliflower, so I can't wait to do this! Oh, and I'd love that creole recipe if it's not too much trouble :bigsmile:

SwimKitty · January 2012

I will definitely be trying this. Thanks for posting!

DesertRains · January 2012

Posted Shrimp Creole recipe that I made with this.

Enjoy!

lmfsmiles · January 2012

What a great idea.

tosh1969 · January 2012

OMG I just went and processed myself up a cauli. LMAO Yours soooo right! As soon as I saw the grains recipe ideas starded popping up. Making a soup tonight but tomorrow going to make a spicy chicken cauli-cous! TY for the idea :laugh: :happy: :laugh: :happy:

shakybabe · January 2012

I do this, I didn't used to like cauli either but its not bad so fine and with chilli or curry on top of it! I steam mine till last minute then take it out microwave and add a little garlic butter then put it back in. If you just lightly spinkie a tiny bit of water on it doesn't turn to mush, other wise I find it a little too dry... I do half a cauli at once though and freeze half with the other half of the chilli or curry.

I use corn tortilla in place of chapatti's/naan bread as I'm wheat free and that's my indian takeaway! :happy:

p.s. I like carrot & swede mash in place of mashed potato, Waitrose do a nice one!

yogibella · January 2012

What!? I love cauliflower..... but I love a lot of rice too...:D Gotta give this a try. It's different from just mashing it, which is nice! Thanks for sharing:)

Btw, I've been eating a lot of brown rice & wild rice in the place of white rice which has lower calories too. (tho not quite 25 cals!)

DesertRains · January 2012

I love rice, too, white and brown, but this is also great if you want a higher-calorie topping and a lower calorie base (like a creamy chicken curry with coconut milk, the rice would just put me waaaaay too high for my goals.)

samanthaalgar27 · January 2012

I'm a fan of the cauliflower rice replacement, my partner & I have it a lot with a tiny bit of rice (so we still get are rice fix!)

mommymeg2 · January 2012

I'm going to try this, thanks so much for sharing! I love cauliflower and enjoy rice so this should be a fun substitution!

ZombieChaser · January 2012

I'm going to try this, thanks so much for sharing! I love cauliflower and enjoy rice so this should be a fun substitution!

^^Ditto for me!

gabadabadoo · January 2012

You're a genius! I have always thought of the cauliflower as the most useless and boring of all the vegetables - but now it has a purpose! Rice substitute! Thanks for this :happy: