How to Make Oven-Roasted Cauliflower "Rice"
Cauliflower rice in the oven is very easy and tasty. It amazingly has fantastic flavor, considering it started out as a head of cauliflower. I have been seeing all sorts of "paleo eating" diets on the internet lately and recently found the Whole30 program. This is based around paleo eating, but is even more strict. The plan cuts out sugar, grains, dairy and legumes. You eat tons of vegetables, good proteins and some fruits. It needs to be done for a month to reset your body's metabolism. It may even help you clear up possible health ailments caused by these "unhealthy" foods. But I digress into another Hub.
This cauliflower rice is really amazing. It does take a bit of work if you hand chop it, as I did. My blender was mushing it up too quickly and I wanted slightly bigger pieces to roast in the oven. So I pulled out the big knife and went to work. I probably chopped for at least 5 minutes and I did have to be careful not to lose any on the floor. Cauliflower tends to jump away from the knife and I lost some at first. I will be getting a food processor in the near future to make my life more simple, but for the time being, the knife will do just fine.
I kept checking the rice every 5 minutes and stirred it up each time some so it would not start to burn. It started browning a little after about 15 minutes but was still too crunchy at that time. It really needs to cook about 25 minutes. Take a little bite each time to ensure it is getting tender and is to your liking. Hopefully, you will love this recipe as much as I do!
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower, finely chopped
- 1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning, freshly ground
- 1 tsp garlic salt, freshly ground
- Rinse the head of cauliflower, pat dry. Pre-heat your oven to 350°.
- Cut the head into several florets, remove the core and any thick stems. Get out your knife and start chopping! If you're lucky, get out your food processor, alas I need to purchase one. Chop the cauliflower into very small pieces, some of mine were a little bigger than others, but it worked out fine.
- Use a Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and grease the pan. Spread the rice onto the pan and sprinkle your seasonings over the rice.
- Put the pan into pre-heated oven and cook the rice for about 25 minutes. I kept checking mine about every 5 minutes and stirred it each time, but you could probably wait and check it at 10 minutes, at least the first time. You do have to periodically stir the rice so as not to burn it.
- Remove the rice from the oven and serve immediately. I used mine as lunch by itself, but this could be used in stir fry dishes very easily. The cauliflower rice even has the same texture as rice if it cooked properly. It is very tasty. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and are as pleasantly surprised at the results!
