One cool concept I came across when I started researching low carb meals is using cauliflower as a substitute for rice. It took me a few weeks to work up the excitement to try this, since I am not a big cauliflower lover. It’s a vegetable that tastes kinda bland to me, quite honestly. What I am learning it that this could actually work to my advantage! It can take on pretty much whatever flavors I want it to, The whole idea here is to blend the cauliflower down to where it is about the size of a rice grain, then cook it in the same fashion you would have cooked your rice (you can use a box grater if you don’t have a blender).I tried it a couple weeks ago microwaved for 7-8 minutes (add a few drops of water) and then added lime juice and cilantro, since that’s one of my favorite ways to make my rice. It was…ok…. but I wasn’t too thrilled (even though my hubby liked it). I decided to give it another attempt and try it as fried rice! I LOVED IT! I mean totally loved it. Enough that if you would have offered me rice in place of it, I would have turned it down willingly. This is a huge win for me. I am one of those people who do not eat to stay alive, it means a lot to me to actually enjoy my food.
I hope you give this recipe a try. If you do, please chime in and let me know what you think. The flavors can be changed up to whatever you like in your rice. I think next try for me will be attempting to make it into a Chinese fried “rice”. I had mine with some steak tips and sauce, and it was fantastic.
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (if dried, use 1 tablespoon)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
- Break down your head of cauliflower into florets. In 2 batches, put in the processor or blender, and blend until it is the size of a rice grain.
- Heat oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Add your onion and garlic and fry for a 1-2 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning.
- Add in the cauliflower and cook for 7-8 minutes, until the cauliflower starts to soften up. Add the lemon zest and juice, parsley, salt and crushed pepper, cook for another minute.
Devotion for the day:
Yesterday I was reading from Romans 4, and it totally rocked my day.
Romans 4:3: What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Romans 4:18-25: 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”[d] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Here I was thinking… wow! Righteousness is attainable! I know this is probably not as much of a shock to some of you, but it was to me! I grew up in the church, and there were so many do-nots and a list a mile high of things that I was supposed to do as a christian. It was filled with legalism, so much so that in my mind, there is no way I could ever match up to the standard. I always felt not christian enough. Then here comes the bible, telling me that it can be “credited to me as righteousness”. It’s hard for my mind to wrap my mind around, but I feel such a renewed hope. The beauty of it is that it is not based on how good I am, but the wonderful grace of God.
ruth mathenge
hi kari,
i am not sure if you remember me, my name is Ruth Mathenge, i was in kabbz with you,we actually finished the same year.
anyway, i just wanted to let you know that i totally love your blog! i love the recipes that you put plus your own experience and how you came around to cooking whatever it is. i have to confess, i havent tried any of them yet, but i want to try this cauliflower one. we are also on a mission to cut carbs and its proven quite harder than i had thought. i love your devotions at the end of each recipe, its kind of like the icing on the cake!!
thanks for writing!!!
toplatewithlove
Hi Istie:-) I definitely remember you. Thanks for checking out the blog. The low carb meals take a little getting used to, but it’s doable. Just change things up so you don’t get bored. Let me know if you try the recipe. Be blessed.