Orange Cauliflower Rice with Dried Currants and Almonds

January 30, 2009

“Lately, I’ve found myself drawn to the snowy white cluster of flowerets and eating much more of it. … I’m now on a mission to serve it in exciting new “raw” ways.”

The “it” I refer to is cauliflower. During the past couple weeks this cruciferous vegetable has been the sole instigator in my frequent trips to the health food store. Each visit I walked out with one, sometimes two heads of cauliflower and I could sense inquiring mind beginning to wonder. In an attempt to call attention away from yet another cauliflower purchase, I’d toss one or two additional items in the mix but, the slightly tilted heads and curious looks from my friends behind the counter finally led to the inevitable question, What are you doing with all the cauliflower? Well, um, I’m having a little fun in the kitchen.

Some of my creations were good, some turn out great, and others were a complete flop. This particular cauliflower recipe is one of the good ones that I am happy to share with you. It is also one that I submitted as part of my menu contribution for the soon-to-be-released ebook, One Week Raw by Heather of Kombucha Chic, more on her upcoming ebook soon.

Cauliflower makes a great vegetable rice-like alternative. It has a subtle nutty, slightly sweet flavor and is available year round but it’s in season and at its best from December through March.

Serve this recipe as a main or a side dish, either way it is delicious. Another good thing, I love the simplicity of one-dish meals, and this one has a great mix of flavors for little fuss.

Orange Cauliflower Rice with Dried Currants and Almonds

1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 oranges, 1/2 an orange juiced, remaining 1 1/2 segmented
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 small bunch curly parsley, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1/2 white or yellow onion, finely chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dried currants,
1/2 cup almonds, coarsely chopped

Cut away the cauliflower florets from the stalk by making incisions along the base of the stalk with a shape knife. Break away the cauliflower flowerets, then break or roughly chop the cauliflower into 1-inch pieces. Wash the florets carefully and drain off any excess water. Working in batches, chop the cauliflower in a food processor in short pulses until roughly the size of grains of rice (the sizes will vary from a combination of very fine pieces to larger pieces). Transfer the cauliflower into a large bowl.

Cut one orange in half and juice one of the orange halves [reserve the other half for segmenting]. Add the extra virgin olive oil the juice and whisk together and season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste. Pour over the cauliflower rice and stir to mix. Add the parsley, celery, onions, dried currant, and almonds; stir until well mixed, then carefully fold in the orange segments.

Garnish with parsley or orange segments.

Serves 4

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Comments

13 Comments so far

Paulina on January 31, 2009 Saturday, 6:46 am
Great recipe! I’ll definitely be trying it. HOwever, I’ve never seen currants at the store before. Do you think they’d have them at Whole Foods? And if so, what do they usually come in?

Thanks Paulina – Currants should be readily available at Whole Foods, packaged as you’d find dried apricots or blueberries. Online you’ll find raw organic currants offered at Natural Zing and Raw Guru. Otherwise feel free to use other small berries or fruits [dried or fresh] – blueberries, strawberries, apricots, chopped dates would be nice too.
earthmother on January 31, 2009 Saturday, 2:04 pm
This sounds quick, easy and delicious. I like the cauli-orange combo. I made a Cauliflower L’Orange at Thanksgiving that I really enjoyed.

Looking forward to that ebook.
Zara on January 31, 2009 Saturday, 4:20 pm
This looks so good and the texture of the cauliflower looks very close to grains of rice. Great recipe, thanks!
Heather on February 1, 2009 Sunday, 11:25 am
I can’t wait to try this decadent recipe, Ingrid! Thanks for the link, by the way. The ebook is almost ready to launch!

-Heather
Isle Dance on February 1, 2009 Sunday, 12:02 pm
My taste buds drool!
Michelle Pierson on February 1, 2009 Sunday, 1:58 pm
I made this today, it was yummy. Added avocado too.
Cheris on February 1, 2009 Sunday, 5:09 pm
OMG!! That looks and sounds awesome! I’m wanting this right now!
Mari T on February 1, 2009 Sunday, 6:13 pm
looks very delicious
Kristen's Raw on February 3, 2009 Tuesday, 1:00 am
Sounds delicious – as usual :)

Cheers,
Kristen
debbie on February 3, 2009 Tuesday, 3:26 pm
I Need to try this, my mom made me hate cauliflower cause she cooked the hell out of it, it was smelly mush!
love you
deb
Carolyn P on February 3, 2009 Tuesday, 4:08 pm
This recipe gets two thumbs up in my house. I was hesitant to make it at first because the main ingredient is cauliflower, which I’m not a huge fan of, and on top of that it’s raw. But the picture of it looks really good so despite all that, I made it yesterday to the approving nods of my best friend, her husband and my husband. It’s a tasty recipe I’ll make again. Thank you!

Carolyn – I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for trying it. Does this mean you are a new cauliflower fan? ;-)
JulesM on June 7, 2009 Sunday, 10:13 am
I made this for dinner last night and it is so delicious! Cauliflower is much more versatile than I ever imagined. Use anywhere in place of rice, and it can be marinated, too. I made this with no changes except for adding some orange zest, but next time I may add a wee bit of garlic to the orange vinaigrette. This salad has a lot going for it with a variety of textures and tastes. Bravo!
Jamie Walker on July 23, 2009 Thursday, 12:34 pm
This looks amazing! Very clever use of cauliflower! Thanks for posting… :)

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