Cauliflower rice – all you need is a food processor.

Cauliflowers are fresh, plentiful and cheap at the moment – only $2.50 at our Farmer’s Market last Friday.  There’s just one problem – you have to cook them the right way or they can be pretty uninspiring AND most children just turn their nose up at them.  How I like them best is in Indian cooking – they lend themselves to being spiced up, and the French found a away by covering them in cheese sauce, but none of that was going to work with what I was making for my daughter’s birthday dinner – a Moroccan lamb tagine. This simple dish was inspired by the latest trend in serving cauliflower blitzed to crumbs in a food processor, usually as a carbohydrate substitute, such as rice or quinoa, and often served raw – that wasn’t going to work for me, but it got me thinking. I liked the idea of it chopped really finely but  I wanted to turn it into a cooked vegetable accompaniment to my lamb dish with couscous – and something the children MIGHT like. Well, it worked.  Everyone loved it and two out of three of the children asked for seconds – now I call that a winner.  Most of the family didn’t even realise that it was cauliflower that they were eating and enjoying so much. WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• 1 cauliflower
• half cup flaked almonds
• half cup chopped fresh parsley

METHOD 1. Break the cauliflower up into pieces and blitz in a food processor until it resembles large breadcrumbs.  Don’t continue past that point otherwise you will end up with a pulp – not what you want. 2. Heat up a wok and, without adding any oil, toss in the flaked almonds and stir around for one minute, or so, until they look toasted – be careful not to let them burn. 3. Remove the almonds and set aside – now add the blitzed cauliflower to the wok and stir around for one minute until the crumbed cauliflower softens a little and bits start to turn golden.  IT’S COOKED.  Now add the toasted almonds, chopped parsley, freshly ground pepper and salt and serve – that’s all you do.

A five minute dish that is cheap and healthy.

WHY IS CAULIFLOWER GOOD FOR YOU?

• Cauliflower is an excellent source of Vitamin C – that’s why just lightly cooking it like this is a good idea – the Vitamin C is not destroyed.  Boiling it is not such a good idea.
• It is also high in Vitamin K, Vitamin A,  B6, Iron, Calcium and other phytonutrients.  
• Like all vegetables it is good for your gut and is high in fibre and is a powerful antioxidant.