Cauliflower and Cilantro "Rice"

Brandi McCarthy - Keays

Having too many carbohydrates at dinner (which is so easy to do!) is a great way to spike your insulin levels and prevent your body from accessing fat stores overnight – but let’s face it, sometimes you just want a big serving of rice to go along with that chicken or fish! This recipe is very much like rice or couscous, but it’s made with cauliflower instead of grains. Cauliflower is a high fibre, low calorie food that will fill you up, give you the feeling that you are having rice and keep that fat burning fire stoked! The recipe below is for cilantro lime “rice”, but you could try it with all sorts of seasonings! Curry, garlic butter, dill....use your imagination and spice cabinet and see what you come up with!

Ingredients:

1 medium head of cauliflower, chopped fairly small

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves finely chopped garlic

Juice of a half a lime

¼ cup chopped cilantro

½ teaspoon chipotle chilli powder (regular chilli powder will also work fine)

Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

• Put all of the cauliflower in a food processor and pulse until it resembles rice grain or couscous – you may need to toss it around in the food processor a couple of times.

• Heat the olive oil on medium in a pan with chopped garlic just until the garlic is fragrant. Add the cauliflower bits, lime juice and chilli powder and cook on medium high heat until cauliflower is “al dente”. You’ll need to keep it moving so that it doesn’t burn. If you like it a bit softer or stickier you can add some veggie or chicken broth as this will “stick” the cauliflower together a bit better. Once it’s cooked to your desired texture, toss in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

• Enjoy it along side your favourite meat or fish as a low carb (and food combining friendly) option! By the way, it’s also great cold as a salad the next day with chickpeas, chopped veggies and some dressing!