Fried cauliflower rice - and how to open a cauliflower in less than 2 seconds

Fried cauliflower rice is fast becoming a staple in our house. It's one more great way to get more vegetables in and less grains/sugar.

A couple of years ago, I learned how to open a cauliflower really quickly. I probably saw it on a YouTube video. All great things come from YouTube, right?



I thought I would make that into a gif:



I use organic cauliflower when it is in season. I experimented with leaving the green leaves on or off before smashing the cauliflower. Doesn't make a difference, so leave them on.

Step 1: grab the cauliflower firmly
Step 2: smash it into a cutting board with the stem first.
Step 3: repeat if you didn't do it with enough force.

Then you should have a nice little pile of cauliflower florets like this:



And a stem, similar to this:



Next, add some of the florets to your food processor.



Pulse, pulse, pulse. I divide one cauliflower into about three portions for this.



This bowl has two cauliflower heads turned into rice. Enough for our family of 3 for two nights. This way I only have to wash the food processor once.

I refrigerate half for the next day.



The other half I fry in a pan with some oil and salt and pepper. Stirring every once in a while for about 7-10 minutes or until tender. That would make this faster to make than cooking rice.



Does this fool you into thinking it is definitely rice? Certainly not while you are making it. It has that farty smell that only cauliflower can grace us with. But after it has cooked for a while, the smell dissipates from the rice, although lingers a bit in the kitchen. The texture is great and with the right tenderness, it's really good.



You know what it is really, really good with? My Thai curry cashew chicken casserole. It has enough spice and flavor to mask whatever leftover taste of cauliflower. I say this not because I don't like the taste, but because ... dan, dan daaaannnnn .... this makes it another dish I can get B - our picky eater - to eat. A whole plate of.

That's what I am talking about!