Cauliflower Rice

There is always a food whose job it is to make up the substance of a meal, to soak up delicious sauces and carry yummy flavors and for WildFitter’s that food is ‘riced’ cauliflower. This versatile vegetable is as nutritious as it’s green cruciferous cousins, but it has a lighter taste so can be used as an easily digestible base food in many recipes. Learn how easy it is to create this grain and potato substitute!

Ingredients & Equipment

1 large head of cauliflower

Steamer pot

Food processor/hand grater

Nut milk bag/cheesecloth/clean, thin dish cloth

Instructions

Begin by choosing a head of cauliflower with very few blemishes, cut off any dark spots and remove the leaves. Some suggest removing them stem here, but it is completely edible and just as nutritious as the florets, so I recommend using the smaller ones. About a cup of riced cauliflower is a satisfying serving, and most recipes (for bread or crackers) require 2-3 cups. Remember that once it is steamed and squeezed, a lot of volume is lost in the form of water. So, if a recipe calls for 2 cups cooked riced cauliflower, you should prepare about 3 cups raw.

Place about a cup of cauliflower in the food processor at a time and pulse until pieces are the size of large rice grains.Just watch it carefully- if you make it too fine then you will have mashed cauliflower! You can also use a hand grater and get a bonus arm workout. However, the vegetable is soft and grates easily.

Bring a small amount of water to boil in a steamer pot or just a regular saucepan. Once boiling, add the ‘riced’ cauliflower and cover with a tight fitting lid. Reduce heat to medium and allow to steam for 5 minutes, or soft but still chewy when tasted.

Once it is steamed, drain through a small holed sieve, and press down with a spoon. At this point it is ready to eat as a side with veggies, meat, stir frys or finished soups. If you are using it for breads, pizza dough or crackers, you will need to remove even more moisture so that they do not turn out soggy and cook properly. To do this, wait until the cauliflower is cool and then spoon it into the nut milk bag/cheesecloth or dish cloth over a bowl or the sink. Twist the top closed and squeeze out as much water as you can. Now you have ‘rice’ or ‘flour’ that you can use for these recipes right away, or freeze for later. Either way, you can store it in the fridge for up to a week.