Low-carb dirty rice

If you’re following a low-carb diet and missing rice, I have just the solution for you: rice made from cauliflower in place of the starchy, high-carb grain.

If you’re following a low-carb diet and missing rice, I have just the solution for you: rice made from cauliflower. That’s right; low-carb, grain-free rice that uses superhero ingredient cauliflower in place of the starchy, high-carb grain.

How is this possible? All it takes is a head of cauliflower and the “S” blade of your food processor to turn this cruciferous vegetable into “rice.” If you don’t have a food processor, simply grate the head of cauliflower on a box grater.

I’ve been using cauliflower to make rice for years. That’s because I follow a grain-free, or Paleo diet. I went 100% grain-free, in 2001 and it has helped me in dealing with myriad health issues, including celiac disease.

Some people use the grain-free diet to lose weight or control blood sugar. Others, such as myself use it to supercharge their treatment plan when a gluten-free diet isn’t enough. I also put my older son on the grain-free diet when he was diagnosed with celiac disease at age 3 and it helped to heal the terrible inflammation in his gut.

The grain-free diet is a family affair and even the boys’ friends expect grain-free food when they come to our house. After school each day a bundle of teenagers come over and gobble up all of the grain-free cookies and other foods that I test every day while they are in school. Often, I’ll serve them this dirty rice with a side of eggs for an afterschool snack with some of my grain-free crispy chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Then I run them over to baseball practice and head home to start another grain-free meal for everyone in the evening. Teenagers are a hungry lot and luckily I like to feed them!

Low-carb Dirty Rice recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 yellow pepper, diced

1 orange pepper, diced

3 cups cauliflower, riced with the “S” blade in a food processor

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground chipotle

Heat olive in a large skillet

Sauté onion for 10 minutes until soft

Stir in peppers and sauté for 10 more minutes

Stir in riced cauliflower, salt, and chipotle

Cover the skillet and sauté for 5-10 minutes until cauliflower is soft

Serve