Fresh and spicy raw cauliflower “fried” rice made with chilli, lemongrass, lime and ginger. Ready in under 10 minutes!
Jump to:
What does cauliflower rice taste like?
It has a very mild taste and will mix easily with other flavours, herbs and spices. Cauliflower rice has a light and slightly grainy texture. I love to use raw cauliflower rice as a substitute for cooked rice in dishes.
One of the joys of raw foods is that it can allow you to be very creative. You can use herbs and spices to recreate many of the flavours used in cooked dishes at home.
If your body enjoys cruciferous vegetables then you may want to try this vegetable and cauliflower “stir fry”.
It’s not the same as cooked rice of course but, it’s similar enough to be enjoyed with no cooking and I LOVE it!
Related recipes:
Why make this dish?
I love this vegan cauliflower rice dish because it’s so easy to make and absolutely choc full of flavour without being overpowering.
It’s spicy and tangy from the chilli, the lemongrass and ginger. It’s citrus-y from the lime juice, a little salty from the coconut aminos.
The chopped cherry tomatoes, cucumber and carrot add their own juicy sweetness.
You can make this in the morning while getting the kids ready for school. Or whip it up the night before, when you know the following day’s going to be crazy busy.
Keep it in a container covered and refrigerated until needed or enjoy it straight away. In fact, leaving it allows time for the flavours to develop more.
It also makes a fab quick lunch or packed lunch.
Recipe variations.
Swap the sprouted lentils for cooked lentils. This works really well too with other protein sources like cooked edamame, broad beans, tofu, chickpeas or tempeh.
- Add a pinch of mixed seaweed flakes to replace the flavour of fermented shrimp paste which is used in cooked nasi goreng recipes.
- Use up leftover veggies. It’s a great way to use up leftover veggies at the end of the week.
- Add Add fresh herbs - such as fresh mint or coriander.
- Add spices like fresh garlic, galangal, dried chilli for a deeper chilli flavour.
- To serve 2 people generously, add a few handfuls of leafy greens like bok choy or choy sum served on the side with an additional squeeze of lime.
- If you like dressings then this peanut sauce will be a lovely addition to this recipe.
Nasi Goreng.
This easy cauliflower rice recipe is inspired by the Indonesian stir fried rice dish called Nasi Goreng. Translated, Nasi literally means ‘rice’ and Goreng means ‘fried’.
Traditionally, a sambal is made from mixed spices, herbs and fermented fish paste, then added to the fried rice. Vegetables and a fried egg top the rice and the whole dish is served with fresh tomato and cucumber.
It’s common to use chilli, shallots, garlic, galangal or ginger, lime, lemongrass and sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) for this dish and there are many variations.
This version uses raw cauliflower instead of rice and I replace the fried egg with sprouted lentils.
Lentils are very easy to sprout yourself indoors, or you can purchase them from supermarkets / health food stores nationwide.
I’ve add chopped vegetables and spices to the cauliflower rice rather than making a sambal, to pull it all together quickly.
Recipe
Raw cauliflower "fried" rice
Equipment
- Handheld grater, or a food processor with an s-blade.
- Paring knife.
- Chopping board.
- medium size bowl.
- Small bowl
- Fork or spoon.
Ingredients
- ½ a small cauliflower broken into florets (about 2 cups)
- ½ - 1 cup (about a handful) lentil sprouts.
- ¼ of a medium size English cucumber.
- 1 small carrot.
- 6 cherry tomatoes.
- ¼ cup fresh peas.
- ½ cup fresh sliced green beans.
Spices
- 1 spring onion.
- 1 small red chilli.
- ½ lemongrass stalk.
- 1 cm thick piece ginger.
- juice of ½ lime.
- 2 tablespoon coconut aminos or use tamari soy sauce.
Instructions
- Pulse the cauliflower florets in your food processor (or use a handheld grater) until the cauliflower resembles rice. Spoon the riced cauliflower into a medium size bowl.
- Finely grate the ginger and finely slice the lemongrass. Put these into a small bowl and add the coconut aminos and freshly squeezed juice of half a lime. Give it all a stir then pour over the cauliflower rice and mix it all through to distribute the flavours evenly.
- Chop the carrot, tomatoes, cucumber and green beans into small bite size pieces. Finely slice the onion and red chilli. Add to the bowl with fresh peas and lentil sprouts.
- With a fork or spoon stir everything together so that it's evenly mixed throughout with the spices, the lime juice and coconut aminos. Do a taste test and adjust the dish to your preference before serving.
Hey, did you like this recipe? If so it would mean the world to me if you would please Pin this to your Pinterest boards or even share it on social media so others can find it too.
Enjoy your spicy raw cauliflower “fried” rice for lunch or for dinner.
I’m off for some tea.
LOVE RAW FOOD
XOXO
Juliette
mum, dog owner, lover of raw food
tiannaskitchen says
this is a great mixture makes the fried rice so much more interesting then plain cauliflower
Juliette says
I'm so happy you like the combination 🙂