Cauliflower “Dirty Rice”

For months now I’ve been seeing all of these recipes for replacing various grains with grated cauliflower.  I like these recipes because 1) I LOVE cauliflower! and 2) it’s so very healthy.

I finally decided to try one but the problem was, nothing I had saved/pinned to try had quite what I was looking for.  So, I kind of made it up.

It was super easy and super delicious!  I was going for a “rice-a-roni” flavor, but it came out more like a dirty rice.  My husband thought it tasted like Popeyes dirty rice, so that’s what I’m calling it.  In fact, he was several bites into it before he realized there was no actual rice in the dish.

I have since investigated rice-a-roni flavoring and I want to try again with different spices and herbs.  I also want to try a Mexican style rice with maybe chorizo and chili powder.  Honestly, I want to replace rice with cauliflower in just about everything.  It was that good.

And the best part, the entire dish (the whole bowl you see below) is only 300 calories!!  That is my kind of dish!

Cauliflower “Dirty Rice”
Yield 5 cups

Ingredients
1 tsp Butter
1/4 cup Chicken Stock
1 tsp Chicken Bouillon
1/2 Onion, chopped
2 Carrots, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped
3/4 head Cauliflower
1 tsp Dried Parsley
1 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Poultry Seasoning, (or dried thyme)
1/2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Seasoning Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper

Directions
Dissolve bouillon in stock and heat in microwave for about 30 seconds to dissolve the bouillon.  Set aside.

Melt butter in pan

Add onion, carrots, bell pepper and stock mixture to pan and cook veggies until translucent.  About 5 minutes.

Add cauliflower and cook until slightly tender - 5 more minutes

Add all the seasoning and cook for a few minutes more until everything is nicely melded.

Serve

Catch up...

I’ve gotten a bit behind on the blog.  The holidays always overwhelm me.  Here are some of the things I’ve made over the past few months....

Crispy Cauliflower With Turkey, Capers, Raisins, And Breadcrumbs
- This was adapted from this recipe
- I added ½ pound ground turkey
- I decreased the olive oil to 1-2 tablespoons
- I decreased the breadcrumbs to ¼ cup, but I think next time I will skip the breadcrumbs altogether
- I used balsamic, worcestershire, and poultry seasoning for seasoning
- I added a splash of broth and a few flavored vinegars (cider, oregano, balsamic)
- It was higher in calories than I wanted, but I think I have a few areas where I can adjust
- Really, you could add just about any herbs and seasoning to this


Winterized Greek Salad
- This was adapted from this recipe
- It was delicious!
- I wanted to use this as a weeknight salad, so I needed to get the calories down to about 100 cals per serving.  So...

- I sauteed the sprouts in chicken broth instead of oil (not as crispy, but still tasty)

- And I skipped the cheese

Pumpkin Chai cookies
- This was the recipe
- I think these would be better with a pumpkin frosting
- The cookie is good and moist but not very sweet.  It’s a little cakey, almost like a scone


We also had an Inter holiday dinner (since we weren’t here for Thanksgiving).  I pretty much followed all of these recipes exactly.
Baked Brie and Cranberry Sauce (Incredibly good and easy!  This will become a staple on my Thanksgiving table from now on)

Mushroom dressing (Also, very good.  I did use a rosemary bread for a little more flavor)

Turkey Wellington (Jamie Oliver recipe... this was very good, but so complicated to make that I think I would prefer just doing a basic turkey)

Double chocolate mint cookies (Really yummy, esp if you like chocolate and mint!)

Gingerbread Trifle (I think this was my favorite of the night!  Everything about it was perfect - a really well put together recipe from Martha Stewart)

I have started making holiday cookie bags for family and friends.  Here is what I made this year:
Peppermint Chocolate Cake Balls (Devil’s Food chocolate cake, Dark chocolate frosting, peppermint patties)


Salted caramel and chocolate chip cookies (these were ok... not my favorite - cookie was a bit dry and crunchy)


Fruitcake Cookies (This was my favorite of the three.  It’s a good recipe with a nice, soft cookie that’s not overly sweet, which I find nice in the middle of the holidays when everything is sweet)


Finally, for New Year’s Eve/Day, I made the traditional foods...
Black-Eyed Peas (Texas Caviar - black-eyed peas, yellow and green bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, red onion, lime juice, green onion, and cilantro),


Cabbage (Cabbage and Olive Salad),


and ham (Fried Spam - yes, Spam.  And it was yummy!!)

I also made:
Beer and Cheddar Bread (and yes it is THAT good!!  wow - this was so yummy!!)



And Snow Pudding (this seemed like the perfect winter dessert and it was - light and snow like and perfectly sweet)