One of the first items I learned to cook was rice. I think it stemmed from when I was a kid and had an upset stomach, my goto dish was a bowl of white rice and a can of ginger ale. While I rarely drank ginger ale other than when I was sick, rice was a staple for me. An easy side dish. It can absorb the flavor of sauces of what you put on top of it and easily scale for 1-12 servings. A ratio of 2x water to 1x rice, a dash or two of salt is all you need. Boil the water, pour in rice, dash with salt and simmer for 18 minutes. Not 19. Not 17. 18.
Years ago when I first tried the low carb diet, I missed quite a few foods. Bread….potatoes (in every form) and rice. Very quickly I found cauliflower as a viable substitute and as I showed with Mashed Blue Cauliflower, the versatile vegetable can substitute for potatoes. It also can make a good substitute for rice, so the other day when I made Diablo Shrimp, I decided to make some almond “rice”.
Slivered almonds and “riced” cauliflower.
The recipe calls for a number of different spices. I had some Montreal Chicken seasoning, so used that instead.
While it probably can be done without a food processor, it would take some time. Use the shredding disc (or you can use a shredder if doing it manually).
Looks just like rice, doesn’t it? When making cauliflower mashed “potatoes” you want to steam it before mashing. For cauliflower “rice” you want to change the shape while still raw, then cook it.
While not quite rice, it is pretty close and tastes good in its own right.
Almond Rice
Ingredients:
- 1/2 head cauliflower shredded
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp chicken stock powder
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1/4 cup chopped almonds, toasted
- 1 tsp seasoning (see recipe below)
- Seasoning mix (Makes plenty for later)
- 3 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper.
Directions:
Steam the cauliflower in the microwave, covered on high for 7 minutes. Saute the onion in the butter, adding the cauliflower when its done. Add the stock and the wine, reduce to simmer. When ready to serve add the almonds. So tasty!
Rantings of an Amateur Chef 
That is such a great idea! I’m not a great fan of cauliflower, but I would try this.
LikeLike
yah!! this is right up my alley:) Can’t wait to try it.
LikeLike
Such a great idea! I have several heads of cauliflower that I need to use up. Now I know exactly what to do with them!
LikeLike
Love cauliflower, gotta try it!
LikeLike
I love rice. I can’t survive without it 🙂
Thank you for sharing.
LikeLike
Nice instructions and photos of how to make it. Much better than my blog! It gives me ideas 🙂
LikeLike
Great idea
LikeLike
Thank you for this delicious and low carb recipe!
LikeLike
Sweet! Looks wonderful.
LikeLike
this is the smartest recipe…a ricer genius!
LikeLike
I love cauliflower. But the one way I hate it is mashed. It may be because I love mashed potatoes and I do NOT find it a suitable substitute. You see, it tastes like cauliflower and in no way tastes like potatoes.
The issue has nothing to do with texture/mouth feel and everything to do with taste. I never use cheese or strong flavors with potatoes because I like the taste of potatoes. So trying to trick my brain into being satisfied with mashed cauliflower doesn’t work.
I’m better off just eating cauliflower raw or steamed. If I try to mash them, I end up non-stop nibbling all night to satisfy a potato craving I triggered by making them look like mashed spuds.
LikeLike
i love mashed potatoes, and because of carb issues, i also make mashed cauliflower
LikeLike
I did not know how to cook rice (real rice – not minute rice) until last year. I’m 46… Never thought to use cauliflower… I’m going to have to try that. Thanks!!!
LikeLike
Wow! I never really thought of cauliflower as similar to potatoes or rice. But they’re really good and have few carbohydrates though they’re somewhat fibrous and have a LOT of Vitamin C. Actually, I found this webpage about cauliflower which is interesting: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2390/2
Can’t wait to try the almond recipe! Thank you!!!
LikeLike
I loooove rice and cauliflower!!
LikeLike
I may have to try this one out some time. Thanks.
LikeLike
This is such an inventive idea! Thank you!
LikeLike
I’ve seen a few recipes on blogs about cauliflower rice, but wasn’t sure how to rice it. Thanks a lot for the photos – they really help! I am going go make this.
LikeLike
This is so great! I made French ‘Brains’ with a head of cauliflower (came out SO good!) I never thought of doing this with cauliflower to sate that desire for rice, this is awesome!
LikeLike
this looks so good and is such a great idea! im on my way to pick up my cauliflower right now!
LikeLike
Thanks for this – looks interesting. Best cauliflower dish I’ve had lately is this one, from Ed Giobbi, a pretty interesting guy!
Ed Giobbi’s Cauliflower with Onions and Tomatoes
Ingredients:
1 Cauliflower, broken into floweretes
5 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 or 4 Tbs white wine vinegar
1 cup coarsely chopped tomatoes
salt and freshly ground pepper, or hot pepper flakes to taste
Procedure:
Blanch the cauliflower in boiling water for one minute – drain. Heat the oil in a large skillet, and saute the oil, uncovered, over med heat, stirring often until translucent. Add the cauliflower and continue to saute, being careful not to break up the floweretes. When the cauliflower begins to stick a little and brown, add the vinegar, cover, and cook, stirring now and then until the vinegar cooks off. Stir in the tomatoes, salt and pepper, or hot peppers, and simmer, covered until the cauliflower is tender, 5-10 minutes. Do not overcook.
LikeLike
What a great way to make cauliflower – I can’t wait to try this!
LikeLike
Looks great,but I’m one that wouldn’t survive without rice. Some nights a quick steamed rice and a can of tuna, I really look forward to! I do sometimes use cauliflower puree instead of potato mash.
LikeLike
What an AWESOME idea!!!
LikeLike
This is a great idea! My husband loves rice, so this might be a really nice alternative…although, I may have to trick him to do it…. 🙂
LikeLike
I did that this time to my boys. It took them until the third forkfull to realize it wasn’t rice. I asked them after the first fork how it was and got grand praise from a teenage boy, “pretty good”.
LikeLike
This recipe looks great and I had to read the ingredients list about 3 times, there is no rice in it, no wonder you fooled your kids. It looks like rice.
Nostalgia lane. I also associate drinking ginger ale with being sick with the flu as a kid. It used to be really gingery tasting. Not like the stuff they make now. I don’t drink soft drinks/soda anymore now so it doesn’t bother me.
LikeLike
Just thought I’d drop by and leave you a note letting you know I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger award on my post: http://ncmport59.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/hell-you-say-you-won-it/
LikeLike
Looks like a great recipe.
LikeLike
This is something I wouldn’t have thought of in a million years! Love the idea! Can’t wait to try it!
LikeLike
Great recipe, will definitely give it a try.
LikeLike
I love this post. I used to not like rice because I couldn’t cook it well. But now that I’m all grown up, I can make a mean rice dish.
LikeLike
My husband and I, in an attempt to reduce our carb intake (I simply cannot go no-carb !) have tried the mashed cauliflower and it really is good ! This idea for riced cauliflower is even better ! THanks !
LikeLike
This looks delicious!
LikeLike
It looks like a great alternative to pasta (thank you so much for “liking” my “pasta” post !) and I must confess I like almonds a lot !!! Your blog is really good (my favorite category is the “Vegan” one …) and really impressive too ! I’ll visit it again really soon ! Have a great day !!!
LikeLike
I tried this and it was wonderful. I like cauliflower and had tried it mashed with peas but it was just too bland. Cooked in this manner it was very tastie. Thanks
LikeLike
Awesome idea! I love using the food processor to shred the cauliflower to look like rice, and it looks like a really versatile recipe that can be used in many dishes. I’m going to try this next time I pick up some cauliflower.
LikeLike
Love this! We don’t do any grains except for rice, so a variation is nice. We do sweet potatoes– no white potatoes, and LOTS of squash– sometimes a “mashed potato” substitute. Great finding new ways to do veggies! Especially ones we can grow ourselves– Thank you!
LikeLike
This sounds delicious! I’m not usually the biggest cauliflower fan so I’ll have to try this new method of cooking it and see how it goes.
LikeLike
What a genius idea. You know this would be great for Passover, when grains and rice or off-limits and people have more potato recipes than they know what to do with.
I’m allergic to almonds, but would definitely try this without them.
LikeLike
This recipe is awesome! Who would have thought cauliflower could be so diversifiable!
LikeLike
substitute the butter for butter infused with cannabis, and substitute the white wine for water remaining from the butter infusion process and I think this would be an awesome meal for a sick individual needing more nutrients than plain rice can provide. Thanks for sharing. I will be sharing/rebloging this one. Hopefully I can lay hands on all the ingredients and test it for myself.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Breezy Kiefair and commented:
substitute the butter for butter infused with cannabis, and substitute the white wine for water remaining from the butter infusion process and I think this would be an awesome meal for a sick individual needing more nutrients than plain rice can provide. Thanks for sharing. I will be sharing/rebloging this one. Hopefully I can lay hands on all the ingredients and test it for myself.
LikeLike
This looks totally delish! Rice is such a comfort food but this is a great alternative for a low-cal or low-carb option!
LikeLike
An ingenious way to eat cauliflower.
LikeLike
What a great idea! I may actually get to eat califlower this way…thank you!
LikeLike
Gorgeous..I love rice and I love cauliflower so this is perfect!
LikeLike
I love rice with bits in. Yummy.
LikeLike