Monday, February 25, 2019

Late To The Party

I have never been one to jump on a fad.  Latest thing trending?  Sorry, I'll ignore it and wait for years to try it - obviously FOMO (fear of missing out) is not strong with me.  So this is why I can accept that probably a lot of you are rolling your eyes at what I'm going to write about...yes I am late to the party but I finally arrived and it's still a happening thing. 

I'm talking about cauliflower rice.  Or riced cauliflower, if you will.  It's actually good!  I know, I know - you already know that.  But I was very reticent about swapping out my beloved white rice for a vegetable, even though that meant my portion of white rice was pretty meager if I happened to be watching my calories.  However, in the interest of incorporating more veggies into our dinners, I bought a bag of riced cauliflower about a month ago and did a taste test:  I served it with my easy Korean beef spooned over both the cauliflower and the regular rice, and I was OK with it; Jeff was as well.  Now, going from steamed rice to cauliflower rice in the same meal didn't make me want to give up the regular rice, but when that's all we have?  I can do that!


This is what I've been buying - it's super easy to make, just microwave and in about six minutes, it's ready to go with whatever I've made as a topping.  I will say that I don't like the smell of it when I first open the heated bag, but that seems to go away once it's on the plate...and covered with some sort of sauced topping.  I don't think I'd eat this on its own.  But I like it enough to not make rice, so hey - a veggie without much effort!

Last week I made the easy Korean beef again, only I used ground turkey because that's what I had in the freezer...would that make it Korean burkey?  I had fresh broccoli which I ended up roasting and served that with the Korean burkey and cauliflower rice; while Jeff and I ate, I realized that we were pretty much just eating veggies and protein.  Not something that I intended, but we survived and weren't super hungry later on, so I think this is going to become part of our standard meal rotation.

Oh, and lest you think I've gone off carbs, think not:  Friday nights are burger nights, bun and all, around here.  Served with baked sweet potato fries, because I'm trendy like that...

27 comments:

  1. You are not the last cauliflower rice convert I am! I still haven't tried it and really so far don't plan to either.

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  2. I was an early adapter of riced cauliflower but honestly hated making it. So my consumption fell off. Over the last couple years as they came out with these pre-made frozen versions I started watching for them to be on sale and bought occasionally. Now my local store carries name brands, their own brand, and even some that are spiced and flavored already. There is an Asian style one that I love. And they’ve recently started carrying riced broccoli. I’m someone who generally aims for vegetables and protein for lunch - easily done with a salad in the summer. So, this frozen innovation has completely solved my winter lunch dilemma as all winter I have been grabbing a bag of riced something and added some protein for lunches. I will say I’ve also tried the frozen spiralzed vegetables and I’m not a fan.

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    1. I can't imagine making it myself - just too freaking messy for this clean-as-you-go cook. You reminded me, I did buy a bag of Asian style cauli rice but haven't tried it yet. When you have this for lunch, what kind of protein do you add, and do you throw in some sauce?

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    2. I usually throw either leftover Korean beef, Teriyaki chicken, or just some plain grilled chicken. I do not put sauce because the one I buy seems to have a sauce. It's delicious!

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    3. What brand do you buy? Mine is sauceless...

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  3. I am slower to adopt the new ‘trends’ than you are! I have yet to try the ‘riced’ veggies!!! Maybe someday!!!

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  4. I can't get past the smell...

    I do love spiralized veggies in place of pasta, though.

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    1. Yeah I have to not breathe it in when I first open the bag. But then the smell seems to go away. Agree with you on the spiralized veggie pasta - that is a decent substitute.

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  5. Don't feel badly...we haven't tried it here yet either!

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  6. How about cauliflower instead of pizza dough?! Have you heard about that trend?! How does it even stay together?!

    I want to like this trend, but we tried it and it didn't work well for us! I wonder if it would work better if we had a microwave (instead of using the stove top), or made the cauliflower "rice" ourselves. We have had good luck with cauliflower mash!

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    1. I have heard of cauliflower pizza dough but it doesn't sound great, to be honest. And I can't imagine making the cauliflower rice myself because, maybe it's just me, but even cutting up a head of cauliflower makes a huge mess...little bits get everywhere.

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  7. I haven't tried this either! I like mashed cauliflower. I have half a cauliflower in my fridge. I wonder if I can rice it with my little food processor? That Easy Korean beef looks yummy! It reminds me of that Pei Wei place we ate at one time.

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    1. YES - that Korean beef recipe is just like what we had at Pei Wei! Notice I don't eat it with lettuce cups, though, LOL.

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    2. Debby that's how I made riced cauliflower for years. You chunk it up then put it in the food processor and grind it to rice-sized pieces. It tends to go everywhere!

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  8. I only started buying this stuff last year - I put some in with some potato soup I was making for the family and no one noticed!! I consider that a win! I have a half a frozen bag of this in my freezer, I should probably pull it out and do something with it. That Korean beef looks really good, maybe I'll try it with my half bag. :)

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    1. Interesting - I never thought about adding it to a soup, but that would make a great thickener. Thanks!

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  9. Our local store carries the fresh, not frozen, riced cauliflower and we usually have it about once a week. I like seasoning it separately before I top it with something, like with soy and ginger to put stir-fry on, or chili powder, cumin & garlic topped with taco meat and veggies, or I've even done oregano, garlic & basil to top with homemade spaghetti sauce. I find that I don't miss rice as much as I thought I would, although sometimes nothing but the real thing will do! Congrats on branching out and finding a new way to get more veggies in the diet:-)

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    1. I agree, there is nothing like real rice, but using cauliflower leaves more room for fun food - plus the whole vegetable thing. Thanks for the ideas - I'm thinking of making a taco bowl akin to Chipotle now...yum!

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  10. I don't mind riced cauliflower but my husb won't touch it. And it's so expensive! So, it's one fad we are skipping,

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    1. Well yeah, if only one of you is going to eat it, I can see skipping it.

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  11. Ooooh that Korean beef recipe looks yummy! I buy the fresh stuff just like Emmaclaire, and will usually saute it in a little oil with an onion, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic and whatever seasoning goes with what I'm serving it with. Terry isn't a fan of it either, but meh, I just make real rice and cauliflower rice and can stretch the cauliflower rice into a few meals for me. Sometimes I'll cook up a batch of cilantro-lime cauliflower rice and chorizo flavored ground chicken on the weekend and then have easy burrito bowls for lunch (just add corn, salsa, avocado, etc.).

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    1. Thanks for the ideas - I'm definitely going to make a Chipolte-type bowl. And I think I will try the fresh riced cauliflower; sauteing it with seasonings sounds yummy.

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