Cauliflower Fried Rice (Original Recipe)

1 Tbs coconut oil
5 cubes frozen minced garlic
2 cubes frozen minced ginger
1 10 package frozen, sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 yellow potato, diced
1 12oz bag frozen riced cauliflower medley
1 7oz package sriracha tofu, diced
4 Tbs almond butter
6 Tbs soy sauce
sriracha sauce to taste

1)  In a deep skillet, heat the coconut oil, garlic, ginger, shiitake mushrooms and potato over medium-high heat. Saute, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has evaporated. As this is cooking, heat the riced cauliflower medley according to package directions and set aside.
2)  Once the water has evaporated from the skillet, and the potatoes are tender, add all remaining ingredients. Stir well to combine and heat until temperature is even throughout the dish.
3)  Serve warm.

Review:  I tend to make the same version of fried rice over and over again. Unfortunately, this tended to make rice heavy dinners, with little vegetable variety. Mike's been buying these riced veggie bags and I thought it might make for an interesting version of fried rice. It worked amazingly well! I really enjoyed the flavor combination and it seemed to make it a little more savory. The omission of rice greatly reduced the calorie load, which allowed me to use more almond butter to increase the amount of protein (and flavor!). This was quick, easy and incredibly flavorful. I'll be making this quite a bit!!

Rice with Roasted Garlic, Lentils & Mushrooms

1 bulb garlic
1 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbs olive oil, plus 1 tsp (separate)
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 cup dry lentils (green or red)
1 cup brown rice

1)  Preheat oven to 350F. Slice top off garlic bulb to expose cloves, and discard top. Place bulb on small square of foil and pour 1 tsp olive oil over it. Fold up corners of foil to seal. Roast garlic in oven 40 to 50 minutes, until soft when gently squeezed.
2)  Meanwhile, bring rice and 2 cups of water to boil in a small saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Once water is all absorbed, transfer to a large bowl.
3)  Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss sliced mushrooms with 2 Tbs olive oil and 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar, in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Spread on baking sheet in single layer. Roast mushrooms 20 to 30 minutes in oven with garlic, or until tender and browned, stirring halfway through. Add to large bowl.
4)  Meanwhile, bring lentils and 2 1/2 cups of water to boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer (20 to 25 minutes for green lentils, or 10 to 15 minutes for red lentils). Drain and add to large bowl.
5)  Cool garlic until easy to handle. Squeeze out roasted garlic into a small bowl and discard skins. Mash garlic with fork until smooth. Fold mashed garlic into lentils/rice/mushrooms mixture.
6)  Add additional balsamic vinegar to taste and serve warm.

Review: I made this after work, not realizing how labor intensive it was going to be. I had four different pots/pans cooking at the same time, with varying needs. That's more than I wanted to manage and the length of time it took was longer than I wanted to wait to eat. I was further disappointed by the flavor. I love all these ingredients, so this should have been amazing. Instead, it was fairly dull. The roasted garlic was barely noticeable and it tasted mostly of lentils, rice & balsamic vinegar. If I make it again, I'd roast a few bulbs of garlic to really make the flavor noticeable.

Adapted from:
Vegetarian Times, February 2016 issue