cauliflower mexican rice

I’m addicted to cauliflower. It’s just such a good substitute for rice, such a great way to add in more veggies without realizing it and it’s so versatile. I love sneaking cauliflower into recipes especially when I don’t feel like making rice or am looking for something that will yield more without making me feel like I’m going carb crazy.

The other reason why I love it: because while it’s not delicious (to me at least) raw or unseasoned, and honestly (again to me) kind of has a funky odor when it’s raw, it takes on the flavors it gets mixed with so well that I feel like I can go a little heavy handed on the spices and not even worry about it. Because with cauliflower, there really is no such thing as too much spice so I know that really, I can’t mess it up.

So when I was distracted by the toddler at Trader Joe’s and saw that they had purple cauliflower, I grabbed it and figured I would come up with something. Plus it’s purple which I obviously love.

Then I found the canned jackfruit and knew exactly what I would do with all of it. It would be a variation on a carnitas bowl with cauliflower rice and jackfruit carnitas instead of pork carnitas.

Boom. This recipe was born.

Side note: I need to work on my jackfruit carnitas recipe but rest assured when I get a good one, you’ll get it too. But this recipe can be a good base for anything you would typically throw into a taco or a burrito.

cauliflower mexican rice

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4 people

4 tablespoons of olive oil

1 yellow onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 head of cauliflower, chopped like rice

2-4 tablespoons of taco seasoning

1 4 oz can of diced green chiles, drained

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup of salsa

Chop your cauliflower using a knife to resemble rice, or (my go to now always) use the chop setting on your food processor, rice it down and set it aside.

Take your largest skillet, heat it over medium heat, add in the garlic and the onion, cooking until the onion is translucent and the garlic is fragrant. Add in your cauliflower, cooking for an additional 5 minutes until everything is well combined. Once it’s well combined, add in the taco seasoning, the more the better as far as I’m concerned, and give everything a good stir so the seasoning covers everything. Add in your green chiles and your black beans, stirring until well combined and cooking for an additional 5 minutes until everything is heated through. At the very end, add in your salsa, mix until well combined and heated through, around 3 minutes, and serve while hot! Enjoy!