Cauliflower Rice Blend

This cauliflower and jasmine rice blend is a delicious transition from white rice to full-on cauliflower rice. Jasmine rice is beautifully scented, and gently camouflages the presence of the cauliflower, so your vegetable avoiders won’t even know if you don’t tell them. A healthier option to plain white rice!

We all know cauliflower rice as the super trendy, low-carb, veggie-powered replacement for regular rice. But, how many of you actually use cauliflower rice on the reg? And why not?

Cauliflower rice is now wonderfully available in a couple of convenient forms: fresh in the produce section (either bagged or in clam-shells), or frozen in the frozen vegetables cases. So, the messy prep is no longer an issue.

But, cauliflower is a strongly-flavored vegetable (and strongly-scented, when cooked), and it’s a hard ask to expect vegetable avoiders to embrace a bowlful of cauliflower rice when they were expecting the toothsome, carby quality of grain rice.

And that’s where this blend comes in. Consider it a tasty, effortless transition from rice to full-on cauliflower.

We start with fragrant, sumptuous jasmine rice:

Measure out, rinse well, until the water runs clear — this removes the starchy build-up that makes rice awkwardly sticky — bring to a boil with 1.5x the amount of water, cover and simmer on medium-low for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat.

And now we sneak in the cauliflower rice: use the same amount of cauliflower rice as you did dry rice. Quickly lift the lid on the rice pot and tip in the cauliflower. Do not stir. Close the lid, preserving as much of the steam from the rice as you can in the pot. Being speedy here is a good thing: open lid, dump, slam! Let rest for 10 minutes more.

Remove the lid. You’ll likely be blasted with a pungent aroma. Hold steady, my friend!

Those are the sulfur compounds that occur naturally in cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. Don’t worry: they’re stinky, but a key nutrient in the human body.

Stir the cauliflower into the jasmine rice. You’ll notice the scent quickly disappears, and you’re left with a beautiful pot of fluff that has all of the flavor and texture benefits of grain rice, but with the added boost of vegetable, low-carb goodness from the cauliflower.

To make the cauliflower rice blend really pop, stir in a generous portion of minced cilantro — if all of your peeps like cilantro, of course — a big squeeze of lime, and pinches of salt.

This cauliflower rice blend stores well in the freezer and several days in the fridge. Make ahead for meal prep. Serve with stews and soups.

Karen xo

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5 from 1 vote

Cauliflower Rice Blend

By mixing fragrant jasmine rice with cauliflower rice, you create a blend that camoflages the cauliflower flavor, but still features the vegetable's healthy goodness. A good option for slowly converting vegetable avoiders to full-on cauliflower rice!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cauliflower rice

Servings: 1 cup

Calories: 160kcal

Author: Karen Gibson

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked jasmine white rice, rinsed in a sieve until the water runs clear
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup riced cauliflower*
• cilantro, minced
• lime juice
• kosher salt

Instructions

• Add the jasmine rice and water to a 2 qt pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover with a lid, and cook undisturbed for 15 minutes.
• As quickly as you can, lift the lid, pour in the cauliflower rice on top of the white, and replace the lid (do not stir). Let steam for 10 minutes.
• Remove the lid, and stir the cauliflower into the white rice. Mix in pinches of salt, followed by the cilantro, and a big squeeze of lime juice.

Notes

* Riced cauliflower should be readily available at grocery stores, either fresh and raw in the produce department, or frozen. Either will work here (thaw if frozen). You can also prepare your own riced cauliflower from a whole head. Use a food processor, and some patient pulsing, to create an evenly chopped collection of rice-sized pieces.

Nutrition

Calories: 160kcal

Nutritional information, if shown, is provided as a courtesy only, and is not to be taken as medical information or advice. The nutritional values of your preparation of this recipe are impacted by several factors, including, but not limited to, the ingredient brands you use, any substitutions or measurement changes you make, and measuring accuracy.

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