Cauliflower "Fried" Rice

This is an awesome recipe a challenger shared with me in one of my recent Clean Eating Challenges.  I was skeptical at first - very skeptical.  Would this be worth having to go through getting the cauliflower in the right format. And would it really tasted like "fried" rice?  But I love trying new recipes so I went for it and the answers to those two questions are yes and no.

YES this recipe is totally worth it and not difficult at all.  

No it isn't like a big bad bowl of fried rice from your favorite Chinese restaurant but it is an awesome substitute for a fried rice dish if you are working towards a clean healthy life style.  

(There isn't anything wrong with the occasional bowl of fried rice from the restaurant but definitely not something we can do all the time so enter cauliflower!)

If you have a food processor this recipe is a piece of cake. If you don't have one - GET ONE. I resisted having a food processor for a while but I finally picked up a $30 at Target and it has opened up a world of recipes to me.  So get a little one today, come home, make this recipe.

A few easy steps made enough for dinner and lunches the next day! Win!

Here's What You Need:

-  One small/medium head of cauliflower

-  1/2 of  yellow onion diced small

-  1/2 C frozen green peas

-  This part is up to you - I used a bag of steamable stir fry veggies or you can chop up your own carrot/bell pepper etc. I found this was just easier for all we had going on.

-  Couple of tablespoons olive oil

-  3 tbls low sodium soy sauce

-  1 tbls tahini sauce (The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp sesame oil but we didn't have that. I like the stronger taste of the tahini sauce personally).

8.  1 can garbanzo beans (optional but we needed it because this was our main dish and we wanted the extra protein)

Here's What You Do:

1. Chop the cauliflower and then place in food processor. Process until it looks like a rice consistency.

2.  Heat a tablespoon of olive oil or so in a pan and add your onion.  Saute until soft and transluscent.  If you are using a microwaveable bag of veggies, prep them in the microwave during this time.  If using fresh veggies, add your veggies to the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes with the onion.

4.  Add your cauliflower and beans in the pan along with your veggies (if from the microwave) and peas and cook for 4-5 more minutes until the cauliflower, peas, and beans are heated through.

5.  Now add in your soy sauce and your tahini or seasame oil.  Definitely taste taste and you can add more soy sauce, more tahini, pinch of salt or sugar to get the taste where you like it.  Cook one or two more minutes to be sure everything is heated through.

This dish is super versatile and you can really make it easier or harder to prep depending on what you have going on.  I made it easier by using steamable veggie bag and using beans for my protein. You could also roast some tofu and add that on top (will be doing that next time).  You could add more fresh veggies and saute them in like red peppers, chopped broccoli, or anything you desire.  I love that this dish can be so simple or made more complicated but either way tastes outstanding.

So try it out - don't wait as long as I did!

Original recipe here:  http://www.cherylstyle.com/showcase/vegan-cauliflower-fried-rice-recipe/