We are so excited about this guest post and recipe today! We love Alyssa’s story about how she struggled with commercial diet plans, and how she has found success with real food eating and Paleo! If you haven’t checked out her site, Everyday Maven, you should – its beautifully designed and her photos are recipes are elegant and simple to follow, just like this recipe she is sharing with us today. We especially love this recipe because we are admittedly Ginger-aholics! We can’t get enough of the ginger favor, as you can see from our recipes and love of Ginger Kombucha.
♥♥♥
Discovering Cauliflower Rice was a big deal for me when I transitioned to a Paleo Lifestyle. As a huge lover of Asian food, it was hard to imagine not enjoying some of the rice-based dishes I’ve loved for as long as I could remember. For almost a year, I’ve been cooking my cauli-rice in a saute pan, as I bet most of you have been doing as well.
I am here to tell you that the oven is the way to go. I started experimenting to find a way to cook cauli rice that was light and fluffy and more “rice-like”.
Since cauliflower is a vegetable, it is water-rich and while that is a good thing for our health and wellness, that water gets in the way when it comes to creating a rice-like texture.
After running out of stove-top space a couple of weeks ago, I decided to try cooking my cauli rice in the oven and much to my surprise – it was amazing – light, fluffy and with just enough bite to truly resemble rice.
I’ve since made many iterations of it and today I am sharing my Asian version. This Ginger Coconut Cauliflower Rice goes with almost any Asian dish (like my Paleo Pepper Steak recipe in the picture) and even stands up to thick sauces. It is quick and easy to make, mostly hands off and uses just a few key ingredients that many of us already have on hand.
A huge thank you to Stacy and Matt for hosting me here today. Paleo Parents was one of the first “Paleo” sites I found when I made the transition and they have always been so welcoming and truly made me feel like part of the community. For that I am very grateful and I am glad to meet you all today. I hope you love this “rice” as much as my family does!
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower (approximately 15 to 16 ounces of florets), riced
- 1 piece fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
- chopped scallions for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. Trim cauliflower and place florets in the food processor. Pulse until rice-like consistency is achieved (For a detailed tutorial, click here.)
- Transfer “rice” to a mixing bowl and use a microplane grater to grate fresh ginger into rice. Add kosher salt and mix until well combined.
- Spread rice out on two (unlined) baking sheets so it is in a single layer. Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes, tossing rice at least once during cooking.
- Remove from oven and mix in unsweetened, shredded coconut until well distributed. Transfer to a serving dish, top with chopped scallions and Enjoy
About Alyssa from Everyday Maven: Alyssa Brantley is a recovering yo-yo dieter who transitioned to a Paleo lifestyle over a year ago after hitting a long and seemingly unbreakable plateau while doing Weight Watchers. Alyssa grew up in a cooking family and learned how to cook at a young age. She is focused on creating delicious food using seasonal and real food ingredients that are approachable enough for everyday families. Find out more about Alyssa at www.EverydayMaven.com. You can also connect with Alyssa on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.
