Lately, it seems like everyone and her second cousin is on the paleo diet. One of my coworkers seems to be subsisting on kale smoothies and hamburger patties, while another has brought in dairy-and-gluten-free paleo bread pudding. Some of the mainstream cooking blogs that I follow have started tagging recipes as "paleo" and paleo-specific blogs have been popping up in blogrolls. My friend Heather has given up grains and has been baking almond flour muffins for breakfast. My personal opinion on all of this is that you will have to pry my bread, oatmeal, chickpeas, popcorn, butter, Marshmallow Mateys, and ice cream from my cold, dead hands. Nevertheless, I was intrigued by a photo of some cauliflower "rice" that Heather cooked up. She claimed it was delicious, even though she isn't much of a cauliflower fan. Since I recently discovered, after a string of bad luck, that cauliflower can be quite tasty, I decided to give the cauliflower rice a try with a twist on Creole red beans and rice from the Washington Post.
I found the cauliflower "rice" to be more like couscous in appearance and texture. It took on a nice spiciness when saturated with the bean liquid, and the slight crispness was a pleasing contrast to the softness of the beans. So while I'm still not planning on joining the paleo craze anytime soon (I'm still waiting for someone to come up with the grain-fruit-vegetable-ice cream diet), it is nice to have another vegetable and protein packed vegetarian recipe in my files.
Adapted from the Washington Post recipe by Joe Yonan
Ingredients:
Beans
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon powdered mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 poblano pepper, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 15-ounce cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Cauliflower "Couscous"
- 1 head of cauliflower, cored and cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
Beans
Heat medium saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil and tilt to coat pan. Add oregano, mustard, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika and stir. Cook for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the poblano pepper, celery, onion, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and garlic is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Add the beans and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has thickened and the beans are flavored with the spices, about 20 minutes.
Cauliflower "Couscous"
While the beans are cooking, add the cauliflower to a food processor in batches and process until cauliflower is reduced to the size and consistency of couscous.
Heat Dutch oven over medium heat. Add olive oil and tilt to coat pan. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally,until onion is softened and garlic is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the processed cauliflower and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is barely tender, about 5 minutes.
Serve cauliflower in bowls, topped by beans and their liquid.
