Cauliflower Jalapeno "Rice"

It’s hard for me to imagine how people came up with new recipe ideas before the internet. I suppose it was a combination of word of mouth and flipping through cookbooks, and while those methods certainly are still useful today, I for one would have a much less varied repertoire if not for Google. The best is when I have an ingredient that needs to be used; the cauliflower from week 10 in this case, but no idea what I want to do with it. In this case I added one item from week 11 to see what came up. Cauliflower + jalapeno then scroll through the results until something catches my eye, and catch it this one did! Let me tell you, after one bite of this cauliflower rice it immediately became my (and my wife's) favorite way of cooking cauliflower. The texture of the final dish is surprisingly similar to actual rice, but with added flavor of the cauliflower, which really reacts well to letting it brown and crisp up a bit on the bottom of the pan. Combine that with the added nutrients that cauliflower has (compared to pretty much nothing for white rice) and welcome to the regular rotation! The next step will be getting our daughter to eat it, which will be much easier if I make a batch isn't full of jalapeno...

Adapted from The Roasted Root.

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Cauliflower

Jalapeno

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, grated
1/4 cup minced shallot

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1 tbs fresh ginger, grated

1 tsp olive oil
3/4 cup canned coconut milk
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Remove any leaves from the cauliflower then chop it into quarters. Using a box grater or the shredding disk on your food processor, grate all of the cauliflower. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and then add the shallot and jalapeno. Saute for 3-4 minutes until the shallot is starting to brown. Add coconut milk, ginger and cumin and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Add the cauliflower and mix to combine. Turn the heat up to medium high and cook, stirring occasionally until the cauliflower starts to brown in spots. Don't be afraid to let a little crust form, you'll be rewarded with great flavor! Season to taste with salt and pepper then serve immediately as a side to any dish you would normally use rice with, you will be surprised how similar it is in texture and flavor.