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You’ll learn how to make low-carb, healthy, Paleo-friendly, Cauliflower Fried “Rice” recipe with your choice of sauce: Garlicky Chili Sauce or Lemon Soy Sauce. The “rice” is actually finely chopped cauliflower. Both recipes were created for my client, San-J. You’ll also learn the difference between Tamari Soy Sauce and cheap, chemically processed soy sauce.
When summer started, we sat down as a family to create a new eating plan. Our youngest son, Nathan, experiences chronic headaches and also an underactive thyroid. Scott and I both have put on some pounds (okay, a lot of pounds) in the past few years. Andrew, our 14 year old, is stick-skinny and needs to increase his stamina and strength.
With all these varied health and medical issues, we decided that the best place for us to affect change was to start in our own kitchen.
Under the guidance of one of our doctors, who also specializes in nutrition, we cut out white starches and as much sugar as we could, during the weekdays. We gave ourselves more freedom for the weekends.
That meant for Monday through Friday, no breads, no pastas and no white rice. The kids could have a small treat at the end of the day, but Scott and I tried to stick to no sugar.
For a mixed Asian family, no rice and no bread was so much harder than no sugar! What would I even make for dinner?! In the beginning I focused so much on what I couldn’t have, and became so frustrated that I snuck out to Panda Express just to eat a bowl of white rice.
After the first tough week, it certainly got easier. Not only did the entire family feel better, but I was learning to think about meal planning very differently.
Dr. Baker advised us to have the same breakfast every single day, to have a large salad every single lunch, and then something simple and unfussy for dinner. Leftovers from dinner could be added to our lunch salad for the next day.
I no longer created elaborate weekday dinners with 3 items (before, each meal included a starch, vegetable and protein). Instead, we went back to simple and easy. Like, Buddha Bowls (here’s a recipe) and other one-wok meals.
What’s a one-wok meal? Well, it’s simply a stir-fry jam-packed with colorful, healthy vegetables and thinly sliced meat or seafood. Everything is cooked in a single wok, and comes together in about 15-25 minutes.
What made the meals interesting not necessarily the ingredients in the stir-fry, but different sauces that I could make from scratch and whisk in a bowl in 2 minutes.
I’m going to give you 2 different Asian sauces that you can make in 2 minutes. Both of these sauces start with San-J Tamari Soy Sauce.
What’s the difference between Tamari & Soy Sauce
Well, not all soy sauce is created equal. There are many different grades and processing methods for soy sauce.
The worst kind you can get is full of artificial color and is chemically processed, called “HVP Soy Sauce.” Avoid brands like La Choy…just read the ingredients label: “Water, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Corn Syrup, Salt, Caramel Color, Lactic Acid, Potassium Sorbate”
That’s not soy sauce!
San-J Tamari Soy Sauce is the purest. It is non-GMO, gluten free, kosher, vegan and properly fermented. The ingredients are: Water, Soybeans, Salt, Alcohol (to preserve freshness). San-J Tamari Soy Sauce is richer, more savory tasting, and less salty than other soy sauces. Use real soy sauce!
2-Minute Asian Sauces
These two sauces are so versatile! You can use the sauces as:
- a stir-fry sauce (for one-wok meals)
- drizzle over steamed or roasted vegetables
- use as a marinade for grilled chicken, fish, shrimp or pork
- use as a dipping sauce for potstickers or other appetizers
We’ll also share with your our favorite one-wok meal – Cauliflower fried “rice.” While our eating plan eliminates as much sugar as possible, I still do add some sugar to my sauces to create delicious, balanced flavor. One tablespoon of sugar (I prefer honey) for an entire family meal is so minimal compared to high sugar bombs like chocolate cake.
Each recipe is enough for one stir-fry, to feed 4 people.
2-Minute Chinese Chili Garlic Soy Sauce Recipe
1 teaspoon very finely minced garlic
2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Asian chili garlic sauce (or other Asian hot sauce)
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
2 Minute Lemon Ginger Soy Sauce Recipe
1 small lemon, zested and juiced (about 1 tsp zest, 1 tbl juice)
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (use a microplane grater)
2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
How to make Cauliflower Fried “Rice”
When I created this recipe, I kept 2 things in mind: healthy and convenient. We use ground chicken (you can use ground beef, pork, turkey, whatever) to cut down on prep work – no slicing, no de-boning. Just put the ground chicken in a bowl and mix with the marinade: San-J Tamari Soy Sauce and sesame oil. Let the chicken sit while we prep the vegetables.
This recipe uses frozen cauliflower florets to cut cooking time in half! Defrost the frozen cauliflower florets and chop into fine “rice.”
When you use frozen cauliflower florets, you don’t have to trim, cut, boil, drain, chill the cauliflower, which could add 15 minutes to prep and cooking time. Instead, just defrost (I just defrost in microwave, on low for 2-3 minutes), then chop into fine pieces. Frozen cauliflower is raw, but the freezing and defrosting process makes the florets softer, more tender and is perfect consistency for fried “rice.”
Here’s an important step: blot the surface of the cauliflower dry. Wet cauliflower will “steam” and not stir-fry well.
We use kale in our recipe, just remove the tough stems that run in the middle of the leaves. We just want the soft, leafy leaves! Just use your hands and rip the tender part away from the entire stem. Roughly chop the kale.
Let’s Cook!
All my fried rice recipes start the same way. Ingredients are cooked separately, then brought back together for the stir-fry. This method is simple – only one wok is needed and you don’t even need to wash the wok. Also, this method keeps the fried rice tasty and light….not goopy and heavy. I want my egg to taste like egg…and the kale to taste like kale. If I added everything into the wok all at once, I’d end up with a goopy mess that tastes like a mishmash of ingredients.
Step 1: Cook the egg
Just a quick scramble. Then remove the egg to a large bowl.
Step 2: Cook the meat
Just a quick stir fry until meat is browned. Then dish out meat to the same bowl as egg.
Step 3: Cook the vegetables
First, it’s green onion and cauliflower.
Then add in the kale and frozen mixed peas/carrots
Add in the cooking sauce.
And add back in the cooked egg and chicken.
Step 4: Stir fry and done!
A simple one-wok meal.
Cauliflower Fried “Rice” with Kale & Chicken Recipe
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6 minutes
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1 pound frozen cauliflower florets, defrosted
3 ounces fresh kale
3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
2 eggs, whisked
1 stalk green onion, chopped
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables (no need to defrost)
1 recipe of the cooking sauces, below
—Choose one (whisk ingredients together)—
2-Minute Chinese Chili Garlic Soy Sauce Recipe
1 teaspoon very finely minced garlic
2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Asian chili garlic sauce
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
2 Minute Lemon Ginger Soy Sauce Recipe
1 small lemon, zested and juiced (about 1 tsp zest, 1 tbl juice)
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (use a microplane grater)
2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
Directions:
1. Marinate the chicken in the tamari soy sauce and sesame oil. Set aside.
2. Mince the cauliflower into very fine, small pieces. With paper towel, pat the cauliflower as dry as possible. Remove the tough middle stem throughout the kale leaves and roughly chop kale.
4. Heat wok with just 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil over high heat until you see whisps of smoke. Add the egg and scramble until just set. Dish out egg to a large bowl.
5. Return wok to stove on high heat. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. Add the ground chicken, and stir-fry until nicely browned. Dish out ground chicken into the bowl with egg.
6. Return wok to stove, over high heat. Swirl in the remaining tablespoon cooking oil and add the green onions. When fragrant, add in the cauliflower. Spread the cauliflower all over surface of wok. Let cook for 1 minute. Add in the kale and frozen vegetables. Stir fry for 1 minute. Add in the cooked ground chicken and egg. Pour in the cooking sauce and give everything a good mix. Let cook for 2 minutes, until everything is steaming hot and cooked through.
Source: http://steamykitchen.com/44655-cauliflower-fried-rice-kale-chicken-recipe.html
