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Quick vegan side dish of cauliflower rice cooked with grated carrots, and tossed with cilantro and lime.
Cauliflower is the most flexible vegetable I know. It can be roasted, fried, made into tater-tots, substituted for potatoes in mashed potatoes, used as pizza crust, and grated for a lower carb alternative to rice. What other food can do that and be such a powerhouse nutritionally? It really is the white food we should be eating.
I've had my eye on cilantro-lime cauliflower rice for ages now - and the recipe couldn't be easier. The only big decision to make is how you want to grate the cauliflower. If you have a food processor, I highly recommend using it for this. But don't throw it all into the bowl and whirl it around like crazy. You'll get an infinite number of sizes from tiny granules to large chunks. Use that grater attachment you threw into the back of the cabinet and wondered if you really needed. Trim away the leaves and bottom stem from the cauliflower, cut it in half with a whack, remove the core, and separate the large florets. They should just pull apart in your hands. Slice them in half or in thirds (including the core) to a size that fits down the shoot on the food processor. Nothing is wasted. The entire prepping of the cauliflower shouldn't take longer than 5 minutes (once you haul out the food processor, which alone can take a few minutes).
The rest is easy peasy, and the cooking zips by in 10 minutes or less, making this a great, healthy side dish for a busy weeknight.
Coconut Rice Variation
If you like this recipe and want more of a main dish, I recommend trying this chickpea coconut rice dish that's made with peanuts for extra protein, coconut milk, and broccolini. It has a similar flavor profile and is completely delicious.
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Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice (with Coconut)
Ingredients
- 1 small head of cauliflower or ½ of a large head
- 2 carrots
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 cup diced spring onion
- ½ tablespoon Gourmet Garden Garlic Paste
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- zest of 1 lime
- ½ cup cilantro coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Grate the cauliflower and carrots, or do as I do and use a food processor. I use the grater attachment and feed cauliflower pieces through the shoot, and in the interest of reducing food waste, I cut the core of the cauliflower and feed it through the shoot too. This method gives you a consistent size of cauliflower, ensuring an even cooking, and grates a head of cauliflower in about 1 minute. You should have about 5 cups of grated cauliflower and carrots when you're done.
- Place a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, and add the coconut oil. A sauté pan has vertical sides to it, which is important to this dish as you want the vegetables to soften without browning.
- When the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes, and pile in the riced cauliflower and carrots. Cook until tender, while occasionally tossing - about 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, and stir in the lime juice, zest, cilantro, salt and red pepper flakes.
- Serve warm.
Liz
Sounds really good. Thank you.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much Liz! It's really, really good. One of my favorite side dishes now 🙂
Jill Silverman Hough
Gorgeous photo, Susan! Love the light!!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Hi Jill! Thanks so so much!!! I recently kicked myself back into stepping up my photo game 🙂
Jill Silverman Hough
Any particular program you're doing to do that? Always interested in upping that game!
Kelly
What a great surprise! I especially liked how the flavours took their turns in the spotlight. Each bite started off with the zing of lime, transitioned into the fresh cilantro, and finally the heat of the cayenne powder ( i used 1/2 tsp cayenne instead of chili peppers). A new favourite for us. Thanks!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm so happy to hear this worked so well for you!!! It's been one of my go-to rice dishes for quite awhile now, and is always a crowd pleaser :-). Thanks so much for letting me know!!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
And THANKS for the 5-star rating!!!!