Primal Perspective
Posted June 13th, 2012
by Jim, Working Owner
“Wait, you don’t eat rice?”
Nope. Rice is a grass.
My wife never liked rice to begin with, and it’s definitely one of the foods we eat just to fill up. According to Mark Sissan on hiswebsite white rice is a “mostly non-toxic source of glucose.” Individuals vary in how they can handle that glucose. It’s apparently better than eating wheat, which has gut irritating properties like a high level of gluten.
Anyway, I like to save my glucose allowance for things I really enjoy, beer or candy for example. So I don’t miss rice. But sometimes you need something like rice for a particular dish, like with a curry or a sauce. I often think white rice looks good, because it’s white, and it provides a canvas for the other foods. Well, one of the paleo/primal’s favorite vegetables is the Cauliflower, precisely for this reason. So when you have a curry or whatever and you want to serve it with rice, try a little cauliflower instead. Just grate the florets with a cheese grater for a crumbly rice-like texture. There’s no need to cook it if you’re going to add it to a sauce, just throw it in there and let it warm up. Perfect for a jambalaya or anything that would have some rice thrown in at the end.
OK, I guess I’m a cauliflower nut! I love the stuff, and beyond subbing for rice, I think it’s awesome roasted. Last week I saw the little cauliflowers in the produce section, and thought, that’s perfect, just a small one, because my wife is out of town this weekend. I picked one out that was just about a pound. For under $2.50 they’re a good deal for organic. And so I have everything I need to make that into a satisfying meal. See, when my wife is away I usually just eat one thing at a time. Last weekend, one dinner I just sat down and ate a whole steak. That’s it. This weekend my meal will be just a big pile of cauliflower, but roasted so yummy, check it out:
Wash the cauliflower and then chop the florets into fairly big bite size pieces. Dry with a paper towel or in a salad spinner. Toss the pieces with a tablespoon or so of nice olive oil and salt and pepper to coat. Tonight I will add a couple teaspoons of curry powder (and a dash of cayenne pepper) to the olive oil, but chili powder or whatever spice you like can be added to the olive oil before tossing for fun flavors.
Arrange the pieces in a parchment lined baking sheet and cover tightly with foil. Place in a hot 475 oven for 10 minutes then remove the foil. After five or ten more minutes the pieces will start to brown and can be flipped around to brown on the other side for 10 more minutes. It’s a total of about a half hour depending on your oven.
This is based on a Cooks Illustrated recipe. They do it a little more carefully, but the result is a super tasty treat that makes a great side, or a whole meal if you’re like me.
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