it’s friday
let me expand on that:
it’s the friday after our first full week back at work, post winter break
I know, I’m spoiled, but that doesn’t make the first week back any less exhausting. It’s kind of a miracle I resisted the urge to grab a burger on my way home
but after a lovely walk to unwind from the busy, stressful leap back into adulting, I didn’t want to spend much time on cooking, and my fridge was embarrassingly bare of fresh produce
luckily past me prepares for fridays like these by keeping frozen veggies on hand, and I had one of my favorite staples lurking in the freezer — riced cauliflower
as I stared into my fridge with dead fish eyes, contemplating life and what to stuff into my stomach to shut it up for the evening, I kept going back to a half-used bunch of dill I’d been aimlessly saving since my last batch of pickles. I love fresh dill, but rarely remember to buy any, so don’t cook with it often and didn’t really have anything in mind
but it reminded me of one of my more recent culinary love affairs
I didn’t get along so well with my first roommate in college (first three, actually), but she did teach me about the incredible wonders of baghali polo, or persian basmati rice with loads of fresh dill and either fava or lima beans
catch me eating platefuls at all you can eat persian buffets. Oops.
these days I don’t eat rice anymore, but for me the main appeal of the dish was the butteriness and the dill. The rice was mostly just a carrier mechanism
so I decided I’d throw something reminiscent of my college food sweetheart together, while slowly nodding off over the stove
the result? A delicious vegetable side, ready in 10-15 minutes, using only 3 ingredients! …4 if you count salt.
cauliflower rice will never be exactly like rice, but it hit all the right notes to bring me the sort of sweet food bliss that has you dazedly eating half the batch out of the pan before you realize you need to save some to eat with your actual dinner
needless to say, I accidentally ate all of it
if you’re eager to find tasty ways to incorporate more veggies in your diet (and you love the taste of fresh dill) give this a try! Even if you haven’t had much luck with cauliflower rice in the past, it’s sure to end up making something that’s at least passably edible…provided you enjoy dill
Buttery dill-y cauli-rice
12oz riced cauliflower, fresh or frozen
1 tbsp unsalted butter (or ghee, or vegan spread, etc., the world is your oyster)
fresh dill, to taste (I used about half a bunch and could’ve gone a lil heavier)
salt, to taste
1. melt half of the butter in a skillet over medium heat
2. once melted, add the riced cauliflower. Sprinkle with salt and mix to coat the cauliflower in the melted butter
3. cook over medium-high heat, mixing regularly, and continue to cook until most of the moisture has boiled off and the cauliflower starts to brown. A tip for better cauli rice is to make sure it gets nice and dried out, so the “grains” stick together less and stop looking like a wet mass (about 10-15 minutes in my tiny pan)
4. chop or roughly tear the dill while the riced cauliflower cooks
5. after the cauli rice is done, taste for salt and adjust as necessary
6. turn off the heat and add the other 1/2 tbsp butter and the fresh dill
7. stir until butter has melted into the cauliflower and dill is evenly distributed
8. let sit for a minute or two, mix again, and serve!
this should technically make 4 servings according to my bag of riced cauliflower, but imo it’s 4 skimpy servings or 2 generous servings (or 1 huge serving if you’re me…oops).
nutrition facts for 1/2 recipe (using butter)
calories: 90, fat: 6g, saturated fat: 3.5g, protein: 4g, carbohydrates: 8g, fiber: 4g, sugars: 4g, added sugars: 0g
avocadulting 