Creamy Coconut Cauliflower Rice Recipe - Delicious Little Bites (2024)

FAQs

How do you squeeze moisture out of cauliflower rice? ›

If using a food processor, cut into small pieces and use the grater attachment to grate the cauliflower into “rice.” Optional: Transfer to a clean towel or paper towel and press to remove any excess moisture, which can make your dish soggy. Once you have your cauliflower rice, it's easy to cook (or enjoy raw)!

Easy DIY Raw Cauliflower Rice Recipe (That's Not Mushy!)

In a food processor, add the cauliflower florets and pulse for 30-60 seconds. Add 2-3 cups at a time and remove as it is riced. This will prevent the cauliflower from being over-processed. With a towel, pat dry or squeeze the liquid out from the cauliflower.

However, rice can be high in calories and carbohydrates, meaning it will fill you up without providing you with many additional nutrients. Substituting cauliflower rice for white rice is a great way to get more antioxidants while reducing calories and carbohydrates in order to save room for other nutrient dense foods.

"Do not for any reason stockpile your pan with tons of cauliflower rice," Patel says. "If you add a whole lot of cauliflower to a small pot, it generates steam — and steam is going to make the whole thing mushy." Patel recommends using either a very large flat-bottomed pan or simply working in batches over high heat.

Research links low calorie, water-dense foods like cauliflower to weight loss, as they may reduce hunger and boost feelings of fullness. Both of these factors may reduce your calorie intake ( 4 ). In addition, cauliflower rice is low in carbs.

Drop the whole cauliflower head upside-down into cool, salted water. Let it soak for 10 to 15 minutes to remove dirt, residue and bugs. Drain and rinse.

While everyone's tolerance is different, too much cauliflower can create G.I. distress, like excess gas and bloating. “Make sure to drink enough water to move it through your system,” suggests Lincoln. Cooking it can also dial back digestion woes.

Cauliflower has several properties that may help with weight loss. First, it is low in calories with only 27 calories per cup (107 g), so you can eat a lot of it without significantly increasing your calorie intake ( 1 ). It can also serve as a low calorie substitute for high calorie foods, such as rice and flour.

The reason for this is that cauliflower, as well as other cruciferous veggies, such as kale and broccoli, contains raffinose and other oligosaccharides. These are specific types of sugars that remain undigested until bacteria in the gut ferment them, producing gas, and, in turn, causing bloating and gas.

The fact that it's a vegetable makes cauliflower automatically good for you. Additionally, cauliflower is packed with nutrients that give it unique benefits, such as fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K and choline. These properties give you a good reason to eat it frequently or even daily.

Does cauliflower rice spike blood sugar? ›

Cauliflower is much lower in carbohydrates than typical white rice, so therefore it has less of an impact on a person's blood sugar levels. When people eat carbs, the digestive system breaks those down into sugar, which enters the blood.

A great source of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, folate and choline, it is also high in fibre, which is important for overall gut health (as long as it is well-tolerated, of course) as it nourishes the good bacteria in the digestive tract, helping to keep inflammation at bay.

Usually the smell is from overcooking with cabbages and cauliflower. Try just cooking it just until it wilts instead of until it goes mushy.

Stirring in fresh lime or lemon juice can add a new dimension to your cauliflower rice. Try adding lime juice and cilantro to make cilantro-lime rice, which works great as a base or a side. Drizzle on sauce. A spoonful of sauce such as chimichurri can mask any cauliflower-iness in the rice.

In recipes like soups or casseroles, where the rice cooks WITH the other ingredients, you have to wait and add the cauliflower rice at the end, so it doesn't get mushy. In recipes like stir fries, burritos, etc. where you use COOKED rice, you can heat your cauli rice and just add it in.

Re:Draining Cauliflower

Make sure to drain it well in a strainer, tossing it several times at 1 or 2 minute intervals. You can also place a couple of paper towels in with the drained cauliflower and toss them around to help absorb some of the moisture.

Arrange blanched cauliflower in single layers on drying trays. Dry at 140 degrees F (60°C) in an oven or dehydrator. If necessary, turn large pieces over every 3 to 4 hours during the drying period. Vegetables can scorch easily toward the end of drying, so monitor more closely as drying nears completion.

Rather than draining the excess water from your rice, if it's a manageable amount, put a piece of stale bread on top of the rice, cover the pot, and allow it to continue cooking on low heat. After a few minutes, the bread should absorb the moisture in the pot.

Since cheesecloth is cotton, other types of cotton fabric will work as a substitute. You can use a flour sack towel, pillowcase, bandana, scrap of fabric, clean cloth diaper, cloth napkin, or jelly bag to strain foods or contain little bundles of herbs.