Cauliflower 'Rice'

Cooks in just a couple of minutes!

Just a quick post (although it will take me longer to post this, than it will for you to make some cauliflower rice!) for those who are not familiar with this 'phenomenon'.

Also known as cauliflower 'cous cous', it's basically just cauliflower florets (minimal stalk) pulsed in a blender (or grated on the largets setting) until it resembles grains of rice (or cous cous) and then cooked quickly.

For one serving I would use 5 or 6 large florets of cauliflower (which would weigh around 200 to 250g).

For those counting calories, cauliflower comes in at approximately 38 calories per 100g. In the photos you can see here, the five large florets came to 220g (so to work out how many calories, divide your weight by 100 and multiply it by 38 e.g. 220g/100g x 38 calories = 83.6 calories).

Simply pulse the cauliflower in a food processor or blender, or grate on the largest setting on a grater. If you have a Thermomix, you can put it in for 5 seconds on REVERSE speed 5, to get larger grains from the florets, tip it out, and then if you have any large pieces of stalk left, throw them back in on forwards speed.  (Or for lazy days, just throw the florets in the bowl, and whizz on speed 4 for about 4 or 5 seconds, have a look and then whizz again for another couple of seconds if necessary or until the texture you require).

Then you can either put in a microwaveable dish, cover with cling film, pierce and cook on high for 90 seconds (in a 900w microwave, and leave to stand for a few seconds), stir well and taste to see whether it's cooked to a texture you like. If not, put on for another 30 seconds then try again. Season to taste and serve (see below for variations).

Or you can get a good non-stick pan and dry fry it for a couple of minutes, until it's cooked to a texture you like, then season as desired.

You could also steam it (if you have an appropriate receptacle to put it in), and if using a Thermomix you can put it in the simmering basket, put in 500g water, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, Varoma, speed 3. I've also spread it in the top tray of the Varoma, making a few gaps for the steam to get through, and put it on top of a dish which is already boiling for about ten minutes, stirring once after 5 minutes. I wouldn't recommend boiling it...

So there you go, that's cauliflower rice/cous cous in it's simplest form - and there are all kinds of ways you can jazz it up, and you can even use it raw in a salad (think cous cous / bulgar wheat salads kind of thing).

If you want some inspiration, have a look at my Coconut, Coriander and Lime Cauliflower Rice recipe, or skip to the bottom of the method of my Mexican Green Rice, which is full of flavour and great with spicy food like my easy Chicken in Smoky Chipotle and Tomato Sauce, or see the suggestions below.

It goes nicely in it's plainest form with things like curries, chilli con carne, tagines - any kind of spicy food you'd serve with rice normally is a good thing to first try it with if you've never had it before, or serve it with Chinese or Japanese food, plain or spiced chicken, fish, or meat etc.

Then you can start getting creative, and adding spices, stirring through fresh herbs, nuts, dried fruit. Or you could fry some onions or shallots in the pan first, and add the cauliflower to it with a little cumin or toasted coconut. If you're cooking it in the microwave, coconut cream powder (1 level tbsp per person) is a nice touch - stir in before you commence cooking, then stir thoroughly afterwards. There are loads of things you can do - I'll upload a recipe for mushroom 'risotto' I've written, made with cauliflower rice, which proved to be rather popular, and you can see what you think, if you decide you like it!