Riced Cauliflower Risotto

Cauliflower ‘risotto’

I seem to be hooked on a theme this last week. This time is a carb-friendly, keto-friendly version of risotto. Again you can’t really call it risotto, maybe it’s more like cauliflower cheese. Anyway you call it, it’s creamy, cheesy, and delicious.

Cauli-Rice Risotto

I added a couple of handfuls of chopped baby spinach to up the nutrition and add some color.

I don’t really have a recipe as such for this, but here goes the general idea. I used a one pound package of fresh pre-riced cauliflower. I like the pre-riced ones because they have a high percentage of stem. That means that the ‘kernels’ both hold their shape and are firmer, more like an actual grain of rice.

Ingredients:

16 oz package of pre-riced cauliflower.
2 tablespoons of olive oil
5.2 oz package of boursin with garlic and fine herbs (or 5 oz of cream cheese with garlic and herbs)
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
2 large handfuls of baby spinach, roughly chopped
salt and pepper as needed

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet (one that allows you to spread out the cauliflower) over medium high heat.
Add the cauliflower and spread it out in a single layer if possible. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until the bottom starts to brown, then stir. You want it to start to crisp a bit.
Add the cream cheese and stir until it melts, adding the heavy cream to thin things out if necessary.
Stir in the spinach, letting it just wilt a bit before you take it off the stove
Taste for salt and add freshly ground pepper.
Immediately transfer to a warm serving dish.

Really, that’s it.

Cauliflower ‘risotto’

I haven’t tried this with frozen riced cauliflower. I imagine it would be softer to begin with and you may need to increase the heat in step 2 to get browning.

Last Dr’s appointment my blood pressure was a little too high so I have been cutting back on salt. To my surprise I have found that food doesn’t need to be salted as much as my usual habit. So, taste for salt first. The cheese, especially if you use boursin, is already salted.

I served this with a big selection of roasted vegetables. After roasting to a charred brown, the vegetables were drizzled with toasted pumpkin seed oil and sprinkled with roasted pumpkin seeds. We didn’t miss the meat.