Cauliflower Rice Veggie Pilaf #Keto #Paleo

Cauliflower rice pilaf! Fluffy, crisp cauliflower with crunchy veggies, bursting with flavor! Its vacation time again! Yay! Time to try the local cuisine and generally pig out. So, a “low carb diet”– a must for a couple of days to keep them pounds off, in view of the feast ahead and the couple of vacay pounds that will creep in!  Plus low carb will at least make me lose water weight and my clothes will fit better. One of the foods I find hard to give up when I go low carb is rice. Not a huge rice eater but every once in a while I do need my rice-fix! Growing up in Southern India rice was staple. Rice in so many forms. Mango rice, lemon rice, bisibelebath (which is rice and lentils cooked together) with some delicate spices, ghee rice, biryani and the list goes on.  Once in a while, on a really hot day steamed rice and yogurt with a side of pickle, hit the spot.  My “go to” comfort food! I can give up bread, rolls, pasta but giving up rice was hard for me, until I discovered “cauliflower rice”. A few years ago, riced cauliflower became popular with the keto folks and the Paleo folks or those who just wanted to eat low carb. You had to make your own cauliflower rice but now it’s a staple in most supermarkets. I found a great deal at Costco where they sell 6 individual frozen packs for about 8 dollars. Just pull out a pouch that makes about 4 to 6 cups depending on what you put into it.

In my opinion, plain cauliflower rice isn’t very palatable.  Throw in some veggies, meat and spice – and you have this rice pilaf, bursting with flavor, texture and nutrition. Plus, it is so simple to make.  Saute some diced onions, add veggies of your choice, add some spice and seasoning (again your choice), the riced cauliflower, throw in some fresh herbs and it’s ready! I add the riced cauliflower and some fresh diced garlic at the very end to prevent the cauliflower from getting very mushy plus adding garlic at the end gives it a terrific boost of flavor.  Plus adding it at the end keeps it crisp and makes it feels more like rice. If you’re not used to the taste of cauliflower rice you can make the pilaf and add some cooked rice to it. This will not be totally low carb but it will have a lot less carbs. You can add any combo of veggies and turn it into a vegetable pilaf of your choice. I really like this recipe and am so glad to share it with you. If you want to check out my other cauliflower rice recipe which incorporates meat, click here!

How to make cauliflower rice : Take a fresh head of cauliflower.  Manually grate into a couscous kind of consistency.  You can also use a food processor. If you want to rice an entire cauliflower, you can freeze portions of it for  later use. It freezes really well.

Nutrition Wise!

Cauliflower is packed with fiber and nutrition. Cauliflower is part of the cruciferous family and has compounds that strengthen the immune system. It’s an excellent source of folate and vitamin C. Just three raw florets provide 67 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin C. Garlic is also an excellent immune booster especially when eaten raw or in near raw state. Throwing some crushed garlic in at the end of cooking  increases potency of a compound called ” allicin” in garlic and provides all the cold fighting benefits. Veggies in general are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Lots of fiber in this dish!

Cauliflower Rice Veggie Pilaf

Print recipe

Serves	6
Dietary	Diabetic, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Meal type	Main Dish, Side Dish
Misc	Child Friendly, Freezable, Gourmet, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot

Ingredients

• 3 Cups Riced cauliflower
• 3 - 4 Cups Mixed veggies of your choice
• 1 onion (sliced)
• 4 Cloves garlic (diced)
• 1/2 " ginger (diced)
• 1 Tsp chilli flakes
• 2 - 3 Tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 Tsp ground cumin
• 1 Tsp pepper
• 1/4 Tsp turmeric
• 1 Tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cilantro (chopped)
• 1/2 cup mint (chopped)
• 1/2 cup parsley (chopped)

Directions

	Heat oil. Saute onions till translucent and slightly brown
	Add dry spices and ginger. Saute another minute
	Add veggies and cook 4to 6 minutes till 3/4 th cooked. If using fresh veggies this may take longer
	Add cauliflower rice, salt and saute another 3- 4 minutes till cauliflower rice is crunchy but cooked
	Add fresh herbs and chopped garlic and cook one minute before you take off the fire

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