Thai Broccoli Rice

Post and images by guest blogger, Rebecca White, of A Pleasant Little Kitchen. 

Visit her full blog or find out more about her here. 

Ricing veggies at home is as easy as, well, rice.

Riced veggies (typically cauliflower, broccoli and sweet potato) are essentially vegetables that have been pulsed in a food processor and left small and "rice sized." Easy peasy.

If you’re still wondering about the concept of riced vegetables let me expound. The beauty of the “riced” concept is it takes some not so lovable vegetables, like cauliflower and broccoli, and chops them until they are not so recognizable while still maintaining their nutritional value. Genius.

Plus, it’s a different spin on how to eat your veggies and that’s always fun.

There are a few approaches to making and using the riced vegetables:

1) Cut the vegetables into florets, place into the food processor and puree until it is broken into rice-like consistency. Serve raw.

2) Repeat the above steps, however add an additional step, sauté for about 3-5 minutes with your favorite oils, spices and vegetables. Serve cooked.

3) Cut the broccoli or cauliflower (or combination of the two) into florets, sauté on the stovetop and then puree in food processor until rice like consistency develops. Serve cooked.

These three steps are just the very basics. Incorporating flavor is up to you. However just a bit of salt, fresh herbs, and your favorite oil can make these bites full of flavor. Here are a few other ideas to make the riced vegetable a staple in your kitchen:

1) Combine with favorite herbs, nuts and other chopped vegetables. Toss with olive oil and salt. Serve chilled or warm.

2) Add soft cheese, like goat or feta, to the riced vegetables.

3) Add a runny egg on top to make a warm bowl of riced veggies into a protein packed meal.

To make this experience of ricing veggies at home even easier, let Market Street provide the cut veggies, like broccoli and cauliflower.

One of my favorite riced vegetable dish is Thai Broccoli Rice. This recipe requires broccoli florets (that I pick up in the produce department already cut, washed and bagged) and shredded cabbage (which is also readily available near the broccoli). The only chopping I have to do is for fresh ginger, garlic, onion and serrano, all of which infuse the cooking oil with a punch of flavor for this recipe.

A few dashes of fish and soy sauce from the international food aisle from Market Street and additional layers of flavor. Fresh cilantro, mint and lime juice finish off this easy meal with flavor and color.

Start the new year off right with fresh ingredients and veggies from Market Street. Give them all a quick blitz in the food processor and let the new year bring a new spin on vegetables.

Thai Broccoli Rice

Serves 6

Author note: The level of heat is up to you. If you prefer a lot of heat, do not seed the serrano pepper. If you prefer a little bit of heat, remove a bit of the stem and seeds. Use a low sodium tamari, this will allow you to control the salt level a bit more.

Ingredients

8 cups broccoli florets

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 cup onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped

1 serrano pepper, chopped

4 cups cabbage, shredded

juice of 1 lime

8 basil leaves

1 cup cilantro, chopped

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 tablespoons low sodium tamari (or low sodium soy sauce)

1/2 teaspoon of salt (optional)

Directions

1. In a food processor, puree the broccoli until a rice-like consistency develops. This may have to be done in two batches depending on the size of your food processor.

2. In a large flat bottomed skillet, add the oil, onion, garlic, ginger and serrano and cook over medium heat for 7 minutes. Stir occasionally.

3. Add the cabbage and coat with the infused oil. Cook for 4 minutes.

4. Add the riced broccoli and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5. Add the fish sauce and soy sauce and cook for 1 minute.

6. Remove from the heat and add the basil, cilantro and lime juice. Stir well. Serve warm.