Veggie Bomb Cauliflower Fried Rice

cauliflower-fried-riceHello there! Happy Tuesday! Thanksgiving is just 2 days away and my brain has been buzzing on all of the different kinds of things that I can whip up and bring to the holiday gathering. I love this time of year with all of the different festive events, decorations and extra family and friends time.

With these specific times of year making my creative thoughts flow extra strong, I seem to get more interesting with recipes I’ve been making for some time in my queue. A couple weeks ago, I jazzed up my Cauliflower Fried Rice recipe. It’s a great alternative to your typical fried rice dish, with white or brown rice (or another rice of your choice). It allows the dish to be lower in carbohydrates, fits into a Paleo regimen if that’s your gig, your grain-free, or you just don’t like rice 😀 LOL!

Like I said, I’ve been making this recipe for a long time now, and it is on the recipe circuit everywhere with fellow health, wellness, clean-eating foodie bloggers, however the other night I amped up the recipe, and created it into a veggie bombastic cauli rice, and I HAD to share (although not really Thanksgiving-y 😀 ). This can be a a side dish or a main dish. You can also make it NON-vegetarian and NON-vegan, if you like, by adding a protein of your choice, ideally the protein being already cooked, however. Check it out!

Ingredients:

  • ½ large head of Cauliflower – made into a rice consistency in a food processor
    • From the above process, it should make about 2 cups Cauliflower “Rice”
  • 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil
  • ½ cup Carrots, chopped
  • ½ Yellow Onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons Green Onion, chopped
  • 6 White Mushrooms, sliced
  • ½ cup Green Beans, snipped into smaller pieces (string, fresh)
  • ½ cup Broccoli, snipped into small florets
  • 1 Garlic Clove, minced
  • 1 whole Egg
  • Tamari (gluten-free), to taste OR Coconut Aminos
  • Sea Salt, to taste
  • Black Pepper, to taste

NOTE: To create cauliflower “rice” – take head of cauliflower, chop roughly into florets, place in food processor and pulse until it takes on a rice consistency:

cauliflower-fried

Directions:

  1. In a large skillet, sauté the garlic and onion in coconut oil, over medium heat
  2. Add in the carrots and a tiny splash of water to prevent sticking, and cook for 3 minutes
  3. Add the mushrooms, green beans and broccoli, and cook for another 2 minutes
  4. Add the green onion and egg, which will start to cook quickly
  5. Add in the cauliflower rice, along with a splash of tamari or coconut aminos, salt and pepper
  6. Stir to combine and heat through, about 3-5 minutes
  7. Adjust the seasonings to taste, then serve

**Putting a TWIST on the DISH:

Print Recipe: veggie-bomb-cauliflower-fried-rice

 

Enjoy!

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Summer Soul Chopped Salad

Summer Soul Chopped Salad - finalYes! I’m still alive 🙂 !  It has been a very busy, yet productive 3 months. I’ve let my posting go to the wayside a bit, which I am not very proud of, however I’m back in the swing of things with a ton of yummy things to share for everyone’s bellies these coming months. I have been inspired in a number of different ways over the last little while, that has gotten a lot of my creative juices flowing… and simply kept my soul fed and geared up to pass on to those that are interested.

My husband and I love soup and salad. We eat a lot of that combo during our week – simple and detoxifying, letting our bodies rest from possible indulgences from traveling, social activities, or just plain wanting to cheat a bit :-). We tend to practice the 80/20 rule – 20% of the time we have some fun and experience not-so-“healthy” cuisine, and then 80% of the time we have our nose to the grindstone, whipping up fun, healthy creative meals.   Our soups can be hearty or light, depending on our appetite or season. Our salads are full of our favorite goodies like sprouts, mushrooms, seeds, avocados, etc.

This past week I was having a conversation with a neighbor about a Greek chopped salad she was making for a Memorial Day weekend dinner feast. It sounded lovely. I love chopped salads, although I never really see much on menus, nor have I ever made one myself. Funny enough, I read an article the same day about a Southwestern flare chopped salad that sounded divine, although I would have to eliminate the corn that was in it (I don’t care for it, and neither does my Blood Type or digestive system 😦 ) .  Anywho, needless to say, my creative juices started moving around up there and I decided that I was going to invent my own chopped salad recipe with some scrumptious and healthy ingredients. It turned out wonderful. I’m craving it now… I think there are leftovers 🙂 !  It is hearty as well, and made a great main dish, instead of just a side or dish to pass, although it will work quite nicely as one, with summer BBQ’s and other gatherings these coming months. There are a lot of health benefits in several ingredients (all of them actually – bonus!)  Chop away!

Ingredients:

  •  Large head of Romaine Lettuce
  • 15 oz. can Cannellini Beans, rinsed and
    drained
  • 1 large Yellow Bell Pepper
  • 1 ½ cup Grape Tomatoes
  • 1 cup cut Fresh Green Beans – ends snipped and
    cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 to 1 ½ cup Cucumber
  • 6 Green Onions

Dressing:

  • ½ cup fresh Dill, chopped OR 2 heaping tbsp of dried Dill
  • 1 large ripe Avocado
  • ½ fresh Lemon Juice, more to taste
  • 1 large Garlic Clove
  • ¼ to ½ cup Olive Oil (eyeball it)
  • a small SPLASH of Apple Cider Vinegar
  • ¼ tsp. Sea Salt
  • ¼ tsp. Black Pepper

** adjust any of these ingredients to taste

Directions:

Make the dressing: puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Finely chop romaine, bell pepper, tomatoes, green beans, cucumber and green onions. Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Summer Soul Chopped Salad - collage

Recommendation: **If serving individual salads, take around 2 cups of chopped salad mixture and place into a small mixing bowl and then add 2-3 tablespoons of the dressing – mix well (give or take the amount to taste) stir to combine and serve on individual plates. **If serving as one big, chopped salad (say at a get together) combine the chopped salad mixture and dressing into a serving bowl, then serve as desired/needed. TIP: Keeping the chopped salad mixture and dressing mixture separate is key if it is just an intimate dinner for two, so storing the extra salad in fridge overnight can stay fresh, so it doesn’t get soggy if combined. Making fresh dressing for a second day of salad delight is advised. You may have leftover dressing, but it is delicious with other things, i.e. as a dip with crackers, breads or veggies.

ONCE SERVED, SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE.

PRINT RECIPE: Summer Soul Chopped Salad

As I said above, this salad has a lot of goodness for bodies in it…

Green Beans – high in folic acid and calcium… http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/folic-acid-foods/    http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/foods-high-in-calcium/

White Beans – high in calcium… http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/foods-high-in-calcium/

Avocado – a SUPERFOOD – high in calcium… http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/folic-acid-foods/

Tomatoes and Peppers – high in vitamin C… http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/foods-high-in-vitamin-c/

Go ahead, try it out – It will become a staple!

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