Almond Coconut Cauliflower Rice
So you’ve just made some of that exquisite West African Chicken Stew and now you want to whip up a batch of that fabulous Almond Coconut Cauliflower Rice that I’d served right alongside it?
Well, you’ve come to the right place!
Even if you haven’t made the stew, no need to leave! I’m pretty sure that you’re going to enjoy this delicious side with many, many other dishes, too!
It may even become a favorite of yours…
Why?
Quite simply because it’s ridiculously quick and easy to make, it’s insanely fragrant and delicious to eat and is loaded with nothing but nutritious ingredients that’ll do your body good.
Plus, it’s so pretty to look at.
I say this is a side dish that, when included on any given plate, might very well steal the show…
If we’re going to make this, we need to first get busy ricing that cauliflower. Like I said earlier when I made this very intriguing Apple & Cinnamon N’Oatmeal, my method of choice for ricing cauliflower is in my trusty food processor.
I find it produces a better texture than the box grater, plus, let’s face it, it’s much, MUCH quicker. And in the kitchen, I’m all for quick!
The trick to getting great “rice” is to not overcrowd the bowl of you food processor. You’re better off working in several batches if you have to. If you put too much at once, you’ll only end up making mush. The little florets need to have plenty of room to bounce around and hit those blades.
Also, keep your pulses really short. A whole bunch of short pulses does a much better job than a few longer pulses.
You’ll notice that I like to keep my “rice” on the coarser side, but feel free to give it a couple extra shots if you like yours to be a bit finer…
Once the cauliflower has been riced, toast the almonds and coconut in a dry skillet set over medium heat until golden and fragrant.
This will only take a few seconds, maaaybe a minute… watch these like a hawk! They could burn on you in no time.
Once golden and intensely aromatic, remove the now toasted almonds and coconut to a plate; add coconut oil to the pan and sweat the onions for about 5 minutes.
Add everything back to the pan, mix well and continue cooking for a few minutes…
…until all the liquid is absorbed.
Serve this “rice” while it’s still piping hot, that’s when it’s at its best.
And for a complete meal, just mix a good source of protein right into this. Chicken would be amazing, I’m sure, and shrimp would be an excellent match, too, no doubt about it! Did I tell you it’s absolutely fantastic with scrambled eggs? You can mix them right in, or just enjoy them on the side. Makes for a fantastic breakfast, if you ask me.
HA! Between the N’Oatmeal and this “rice”, it looks like I’m making a habit out of having cauliflower and eggs for breakfast… 😉
Almond Coconut Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
- 1 medium head cauliflower, riced
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup sliced blanched almonds
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut]
- 1/2 tsp himalayan salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1/2 cup water
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp spicy curry powder
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower into small florets and place in the bowl of your food processor.
- Pulse a few quick times (about 10 to 15) until it resembles the texture of rice
- Toast the coconut and almonds in a dry skillet set over medium heat; remove to a plate when golden and fragrant.
- Add the coconut oil to the skillet and cook the onion with the salt and pepper until fragrant and slightly translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a measuring cup or small bowl, mix the coconut milk and water.
- Add riced cauliflower, garam masala, ginger and spicy curry to the pan, followed by coconut milk, lime juice and finally, toasted coconut and almonds.
- Mix well and continue cooking for an additional 4 to 5 minutes, until cauliflower is cooked but remains somewhat firm and cooking liquid is completeley absorbed.
- Serve piping hot
Nutrition
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
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26 Comments on “Almond Coconut Cauliflower Rice”
Color me intrigued…I’ve seen cauliflower rice recipes floating around, and this one looks like the best that I’ve seen. Problem is, I’m not a big fan of cauliflower. Do you think the “cauliflower taste” gets masked by preparing it this way?
First off, thank you so much for your kind words, Traci, they are greatly appreciated! As for the taste of the cauliflower being masked, I would tend to say yes, definitely! Can you taste it still? Probably, a little… but it sure is an amazing way to acclimate your palate! I really hope you give it a try and if you do, please share your impressions! 🙂
Toasted almonds, garam masala and curry??? I mean, HELLO!
Loving this Indian-inspired cauliflower rice Sonia, can’t wait to try it.
And I know you will love it, Mike! You and I have very similar tastes and I wanted to roll myself in this one… No doubt it’ll please your taste buds also.
Very nice!
Cauli rice is my fav! But I always just make it with nothing added…and it’s a little bland. I love that you added almonds and coconut. It’s like an Almond Joy…but, you know, healthy!
Wait… doesn’t Almond Joy have chocolate in it? Or on it? Say… do you think that chocolate in rice would taste good? Hmmm… now you got me thinking: I wonder if one could make rice pudding using cauliflower… I think me needs to take notes! 😀
Love the sound of this! Never tried anything like it and didn’t think you could make rice type dishes out of cauliflower but I can’t wait to try myself!
You’d be amazed at all the possibilities that cauliflower offers, Vicky. This is just one of them, but a very awesome and tasty one, I admit! I really hope you like it if you do end up giving it a try!
Wonderful stuff!
I’ve often seen a recipe like this (replacing rice with whatever) and never thought it would be good. WOW, was i wrong! This stuff is great. The texture is just like rice. I’m sure if i didn’t tell anyone it was cauliflower they’d never know. My diabetic hubby is VERY happy….unlike the day he had to give up his beloved “poisonous” white rice. I’m going to use the same method but attempt a Chinese fried rice version next. thank you thank you! Love your blog btw!
Aww, so very happy to hear, Ellen. Thank you so much for sharing this, it’s like pure gold to me. I hope your Chinese fried rice turns out great. I might have to give that a try myself!
And thanks for your kind words, I truly appreciate them! 🙂
Love the idea, Love the coconut and almonds. But next time will leave out the curry. Not a curry fan. But hubby liked it.
Sounds awesome…why full fat coconut milk though? I saw you used full fat in your N’oatmeal recipe too (which looks amazing as well!). Can I use something lower fat with similar results?
Full fat coconut milk contains nothing but coconut and water (read your labels though as many brands also include unwanted additives) while the thinner, “drinkable” stuff is usually loaded with an interminable list undesirable ingredients, chemicals and additives.
The MAJOR difference in consistency between the two makes them not interchangeable in most cases. Plus, given the poor nutritional profile of the “drinkable” stuff, I think it’s better off being left on the shelf…
OMG, the texture, crunchiness and flavor if this dish is incredible!!! Soniaaaaa!!!! You know something, hahaha! You’re amazing! I have a friend who is still talking about your Apple Cheesecake Smoothie that I made her 2 or 3 years ago for breakfast when she was visiting me in Vienna. That’s when I found your blog and have been following you ever since. I was vegetarian then turned to paleo myself and so your recipes were “coming after me”. 🙂 Love your work! Big hugs to you.
Really? LOL, that’s too funny! I remember that smoothie, it was quite good indeed. Wow, I haven’t had a smoothie in so long, now you just made me crave one… as well as a bowlful of this rice, for that matter. Funny, I have cauli-rice on the menu for tomorrow… Can’t wait!
And thank you so much for having stuck around for so long, Dalida. I am extremely flattered and honored. How cool is it that my recipes followed you like that! Good thing you too decided to take the paleo plunge 🙂
Ah, now I’m craving the apple cheesecake smoothie, too, hahaha! But not now on paleo, maybe when I’m having my cheat days. So I took your amazing cauli-rice to work and everyone was sniffing it and complimenting on it, but noone tasted it. Next time I’m going to force them to, they must move out of their old fashioned food zones and understand that clean foods are amazing and tasty. No need to fear it. Oh and I took part in our company’s paleo baking challenge, and was actually thinking of you. Oh god, would you have won that contest! I didn’t win of course, with my baking and cooking skills, however you help me learn every day. And thanks for making the world better with your food creations, Sonia! 🙂
Your company held a paleo baking challenge? Wow. How cool is that? What kind of a company do you work for that would do such an awesome thing, if I may ask? I sure would’ve loved to participate! 😀
And thank YOU for making MY world a better place with your kind and touching words, Dalida! You are a real superstar!
Sonia, believe it or not, it’s an American company called Quintiles. 🙂 Pharma. I know… But, I very much appreciated the paleo challenge. There is a new challenge on now, but this time it’s for traditional Hungarian sweets, so I won’t participate, lol. (I live in Budapest btw).
Well, how very cool that they would hold contests like that. I totally approve (although I think I might have passed on the Hungarian sweets, too, or may have come up with a paleo version of one!) 😉
This was totally incredible! I’ve already shared the recipe with a bunch of friends. I halved the almonds because I knew that would be too many carbs for me, but I’m curious how you got your nutritional facts for each serving (am I right in guessing the nutritional info is for 1 of 4 servings?)
Thanks,
Amy
You are correct Amy, this recipe serves 4 and the Nutritional Facts are based on 1 of 4 recipes (if you look closely, you’ll see that I specified that in the recipe area, in the top left corner). To calculate the nutritional facts, I use the free tool that’s available on calorie.com. It’s usually pretty accurate, but you still have to check each of the ingredients you enter to make sure it has the right values.
As for the almonds, they don’t affect the carb value all that much, so you can definitely leave them in!
Hope this helps, and thanks for the great feedback, by the way. I totally appreciate that! 🙂
Thanks so much for the help! I don’t know of another blogger who responds to everyone like you do. That takes a lot of time but I sure appreciate it!!
I’m off to enjoy the leftovers…Yumm!!
Amy
Ah, but it’s the least I can do, Amy! And I sure appreciate the fact that you took the time to thank me for responding.
Enjoy your leftovers and have yourself a lovely day! 🙂
So easy to make and really moorish; even cauliflower skeptics came back for more!