Fried cauli-rice

I’m usually not a big fan of substituting a main ingredient for a less-caloric alternative, but, when you’re trying to reduce the amount of grains in your diet, your options become limited. However, my fried “cauli-rice” more than well-satisfied my hankering for rice. Vegetables, such as cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, zucchini, or white or sweet potatoes are great grain-free solutions to noodles or rice, especially when shredded or spiralized.

No, I’m not reverting back to the autoimmune protocol, I’m just following my own adaptation of the nutrition plan based on how my body responds to food. Much to my dismay, what I gleaned from being on AIP was that my body does tend to have a difficult time digesting grains, when eaten in large quantities, which I am notorious for. I absolutely love grains, and since going gluten free several years ago, I have been quite the feaster of rice, quinoa, oats, and all those other delicious, carb-y nuggets. I am not completely eliminating gluten-free grains from my diet, rather, I am temporarily reducing my intake of these grains.

Through my glass-half-full spectacles, I see my short-term nutrition plan as a culinary challenge! I love to experiment in the kitchen, so finding more vegetable alternatives to my go-to grains will give me the opportunity to create new recipes!

And that’s exactly what I did with this cauli-rice! I shredded the cauliflower in my food processor using the shredding attachment to achieve that “rice” texture. And since cauliflower has essentially no starch, I added a shredded sweet potato to my riced cauliflower to give it some more body. Then, I added all the usual fried rice ingredients, keeping it vegan with lots of veggies and tofu and coconut aminos, and also keeping it gluten free with tamari. A few stirs and shakes of the pan, and I had a huge pot of fried cauli-rice in a matter of minutes! I finished the dish off with pure sesame oil for a luxurious nutty richness.

My husband always gets excited when I make something new, because he’s rather anti-routine and my creature-of-habit self tends to make the same recipes over and over again. So, you can imagine his enthusiasm at the dinner table when I place something completely new in front of him. And when I served us piping hot bowls of fried cauli-rice, after one bite, we both looked at each other in blissful food-coma stupor and proceeded to finish off the entire pot of cauli-rice.

Fried cauli-rice

1 small head of cauliflower

1 sweet potato

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (peas, corn, lima beans, green beans)

2 cups bean sprouts

4 Tbsp. tamari

2-3 Tbsp. coconut aminos

2 scallions, thinly sliced

8 oz. firm tofu

2 cloves fresh garlic

¼ onion, thinly sliced

2-3 Tbsp. sesame oil

Drain as much water as possible out of the tofu by placing the tofu in a shallow bowl and resting a plate on top with a weighted object, like a can of beans or jar of peanut butter. Allow the tofu to rest like this for at least one hour or overnight so as to “squeeze” the water out. Drain the excess water that pools into the shallow bowl. Crumble the tofu using your hands or a fork to break up the tofu into crumble-like pieces and set aside.

Using the shredding attachment of your food processor, shred the cauliflower and sweet potato and set aside. Heat a large skillet over the stove and add in the minced garlic and sliced onion. Dry-sautee the onions and garlic for about 1 minute, then add in the crumbled tofu and stir. Dump the shredded vegetables into the pan, and stir. Add in the frozen mixed veggies, tamari, and coconut aminos. Pour in a touch of water if the veggies start to get too dry, and place the lid on the pan. Allow the veggies to steam for about 4-5 minutes. Once the veggies are cooked through, shut the heat off and stir in the bean sprouts, scallions, and sesame oil. Serve immediately.