There’s No Rice In There??

That’s what my husband said when I told him what he was eating for dinner wasn’t rice! I downloaded the book Well Fed in my quest to learn more about the paleo lifestyle, and it has not disappointed yet! I did my “weekly cookup” yesterday – I cooked a bunch of proteins, steam-sautéed some veggies, and stocked up my fridge with ready-to-go components to throw together quick meals. I was in the mood for something with curry tonight, so I took some onions, garlic, red pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, tomato, pineapple, coconut milk, and curry powder and turned it into this:

Yum…curry!!

Then I decided to try making cauliflower “rice” to go along with it. You see, my husband could eat rice all day every day. I think he could make a meal out of just rice with barbecue sauce. Actually, I think he’s done that before!! Anyway, when following the paleo style of eating, grains are a no-no. I’m already gluten-free, so rice is one of the few I still had in the house. I figured if I could get away with making cauliflower “rice” I just might be able to sneak this whole paleo thing past the hubby without too much fuss.

Here goes…. Take a head of cauliflower and cut it into florets, removing the stems. Throw it in the food processor and pulse it (10-15 times) until it looks like this:

Cauliflower “rice”

Then, heat up some coconut oil in a large sauté pan and add some onions and garlic.

The base…

Now here’s where things get interesting… You can do this a million different ways. Tonight, I chose a curry version, so I added curry powder,  some chopped fresh pineapple, and a handful of chopped up roasted cashews – and sautéed that until fragrant.

Add the seasonings…

Then add the “rice” and sauté 5 minutes or so, or until the cauliflower is tender, but not mushy. Adjust the seasonings as needed (salt/pepper/more curry), and voila!

 

Curry Cauliflower “Rice”

It went perfectly with my quick curry – and I could totally see this being flavored many different ways depending on what I was making for dinner. It totally snuck past the husband until I told him it was cauliflower. Then he said he didn’t like it – but I think he just didn’t like the idea of it. He still ate more of it even after I told him!! I have a feeling cauliflower will be making more appearances as a stand-in for rice in my kitchen from now on!

In other exciting news – my blog is now included as part of the Gluten Free Global Community! I’m super excited! Just click on the button below and check out the many bloggers featured as part of this community. I’ve already found lots of great info through these folks, and I’m sure you will too!

Have you ever snuck an ingredient past someone??

What’s your favorite “stand-in” food?

A new challenge in the journey…

I can’t say this comes as a complete surprise to me, but I finally got the official diagnosis of gluten intolerant the other day. I’m still learning a bit about the range of conditions that can be caused by gluten – anything from a sensitivity to an allergy to full blown celiac disease. Although my bloodwork was negative for celiac, the biopsies taken during some other testing showed damage to my small intestine which is a pretty good indicator of some form of gluten issue. My gastroenterologist has settled on “gluten intolerance” as my particular label, and said that the more I can eat gluten free, the better off I’ll be.

Of course, many of the healthiest foods for us are naturally gluten free – lean proteins, fruits, veggies – but some of my favorite things are not. Fortunately, given that I don’t have celiac, I don’t have to worry quite as much about cross contamination, so I can still have my favorite oatmeal without too much concern. I do have to start looking out for certain tricky things on labels – anything that is related to wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and triticale (not that I know what triticale is anyway).

When I went through my first gluten free adventure a little over 2 years ago, I started a blog where I posted some recipes and reviews of gluten free products. Rather than reposting everything from there, or trying to maintain two blogs – which I just don’t have the time to do – I’ll link to some of my favorite things from that blog as we go along here. If you do want to check it out – feel free to head on over to Gluten-Free Newbie!

Thanksgiving was likely my last real gluten containing meal – and I really tried to keep it low-gluten. The only things that were heavy duty on the gluten were the stuffing and the crusts of the pies. I did make stuffed mushrooms, but I used gluten free breadcrumbs and nobody seemed to notice. One thing I did notice was that they sucked up quite a bit of moisture, so I think I’d make the stuffing mixture a little more wet next time.

Hopefully I’ll keep learning about this new challenge – and I’ll overcome it like everything else!

Do you have any dietary challenges or food intolerances?