Thai Cauliflower Rice with Ginger-Almond Dressing, mango, green onion, bell pepper, cashews, and fresh mint. This flavor-packed vegan recipe is the perfect side dish to any meal.
We’ve been hit with a cloudburst of rainy Spring weather over here in No Winter’s Land lately, and our mountains have been soaking up the much-needed water and are already turning vibrant green.
The recent precipitation has been fabulous for our scarce water supply since we’ve had almost no winter at all over the last three years.
In addition to being much needed for our environment here on the West Coast, the windy, drizzly, unpredictable weather has also been great for me to re-prioritize and play catch up. Rainy weather keeps me off the trails, slows down my pace, and allows me to look around, and do things I’ve been putting on the back burner.
Like read copious amounts of other people’s blog posts – a hobby for which I don’t typically set aside enough time.
Like go on unpredictable, long drizzle day walks on delicious smelling wet pavement and listen to the birds chirp. Seriously, do we do these things enough in life?
Take a load to the thrift store, make recipes I’ve been meaning to try whether or not I intend to post them on my blog. Buy aqua-colored water shoes (on sale for $14 in the kid’s section at REI, woop woop!!), listen to Terry Gross podcasts on the NPRs, visit with family, watch 1990s movies like Point Break, and of course exercise my human right to rainy day drinking.
The best part: I haven’t been using “bad weather” as an excuse to feed my workaholism the way I normally would. I’ve been using it to take a breath of fresh air. And it also inspires me to make super nourishing and colorful food, like this here cauliflower rice!
Cauliflower rice may have reached its peak in popularity, but I’m far from over it. My relationship with the cauli rice is still fresh and steamy. I have to admit, this Thai version right here may just be my favorite cauli rice recipe to date.
The other day, I accidently bought 3 mangos thinking I would be using them in a freelance project, but then didn’t end up needing them. Although I LOVE a good mango smoothie or salsa, I had a hankering for a mango-studded savory dish.
I was inspired by this recipe for Thai Cauliflower Rice Salad with Peanut Butter Sauce from The Awesome Green, working some adding and subtracting magic based on my own refrigerator inventory, and the rest as they say, is history.
Wrap your pupils around it.
This cauliflower rice. You’re just going to have to taste it with your face. All the flavors, all the textures, all the sex appeal, all the color, that ginger-almond dressing.
The mint, the mango, the ginger-lime-almond butter flash of flavor, huge!
Whether or not you live a grain-free lifestyle, cauliflower rice is truly amazing. Full of antioxidants and Vitamin C, cauliflower provides many health benefits, which you don’t get with regular rice.
Plus, you’re not gonna believe the ways in which I ate this cauliflower rice. Hot, cold, wrapped in a collard leaf(I’ll show you that one tomorrow), scrambled up with eggs of all things, and taco-ed up with black beans and cheeses.
It’s completely ravageable on its own but is also great in and around the other foods, making it a pretty versatile dish! Add grilled chicken or sautéed shrimp? Don’t mind if you do!
Make it now and save some for the thing I’m showing you tomorrow! Not that I’m being pushy. But do make it. As soon as humanly possible.
Thai Cauliflower rice-a-roni – the every day treat.
Thai Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt or to taste
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 bunch green onions chopped
- 1 large red bell pepper chopped
- 1 large ripe mango peeled and chopped
- ½ cup red onion sliced
- 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves chopped
- ½ cup raw cashews
Ginger Almond Butter Dressing:
- ¼ cup light coconut milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons creamy almond butter*
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the Ginger Almond Butter Dressing. Set aside until ready to use.
- Remove the green stems from the cauliflower. Chop it into chunks and place it in a food processor. Pulse until rice-sized pieces result (Note: if you don’t have a food processor, chop the cauliflower in half and grate it using a box grater).
- Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet or wok to medium heat. Add the grated cauliflower and saute, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower softens and cooks down, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the minced garlic and saute another 3 minutes.
- Transfer cauliflower rice to a large serving bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, including the Ginger Almond Butter Dressing, and toss everything together until well-combined. Serve and enjoy!
Yum gotta make this!!! Cauliflower rice is the best. Just an idea to mix it up: I bet this recipe would also be amazing with zucchini noodles instead of fried rice! Like toss the zoodles in the dressing with the cashews and other ingredients!
I’m so happy you like the idea of the recipe! Let me know if you try it! xoxo
This is by far the best cauliflower rice I’ve made (and I’ve tried a lot of recipes). I added a small minced jalapeño along with the garlic because I love spicy food. The spice was very subtle, but it worked really well with the rest of the ingredients.
Wonderful recipe!
Oh yes, the jalapeno addition sounds brilliant! I love spicy food, so I’ll have to try that (or a serrano) on the next go-round! Thanks so much, Daniela!
I am weirdly so excited for your precipitation. Yay rain! I am also not so weirdly excited for this cauli rice. Thai flavors are totally my jam and love that the cauli makes it health food!
I’m so excited to try this! Do you have a sense of how it keeps in the fridge or freezer? (most likely, I’ll polish it off within 24 hours, but always nice to have a contingency plan…)
Hi Lily! So happy you’re going to try the cauli rice! The recipe will last in the refrigerator for up to one week. I wouldn’t recommend freezing it, because cauliflower is one of those veggies that doesn’t freeze very well. Let me know how you like it!
I love your recipes! I’m starting the Whole30 eating lifestyle this week so keep these delicious recipes coming but I do have one small correction. Read this sentence aloud: Weather or not you live a grain-free lifestyle, . . . I know you use a spell checker but these incorrect words simply spoil your wonderful blog. You used Whether and Weather multiple times and this one simply slipped through the cracks. Proof reading is such an important task that it shouldn’t ever be left undone. Keep up the great work but please proof read each post before sending it into the nether regions for us to peruse.
Thanks for catching that, Ray! Fixed! I’ve been thinking I need to do a round of Whole30, myself…I’ve gotten off track lately with cheese, ice cream, and chocolate desserts. Good luck with your Whole30 and thanks for the inspiration 🙂
This looks amazing! Love that ginger almond dressing and cauli rice is always a winner. Pinning!
Thanks so much, Medha! Let me know if you give the recipe a try!
YES! RAIN! I’m with you, I find myself enjoying time to myself when the weather is not suitable for doing blogging things. Speaking of Terry Gross podcasts, did you catch the interview with Barry Estabrook about his “Pig Tales”? It definitely made me think a whoooole lot about my food choices!
You know I’m ready to dig into a lovely colorful cauliflower rice bowl like this one!
Point Break! Aw, I love Patrick Swayze. He was such a hottie. Dirty Dancing…ugh, I die.
And I’m jealous you can shop in the kid’s section for shoes. I have to buy boats (literally, like canoes) for my feet!
This cauliflower rice looks amazing! That ginger almond dressing is what dreams are made of!
Over the weekend I had the pleasure of playing in the rain. We were at a local carnival eating all the fried food we could get our hands on–it was glorious. Instead of running for cover, we embraced the rain. It was a nice change. Love this colorful salad.
First I wanted to read the article to find out what cauliflower rice was, and now that I realize it’s just ground down cauliflower and not rice, I feel silly. There’s no rice in it. Secondly, I wanted to read your post because I wanted to know how to make ginger almond dressing. Thirdly, I think it all sounds really good, and I will have to make it soon. Thank you for your post.
http://askmelissaanything.blogspot.com/
I’ve nevvvver done cauliflower rice, buuuut with that dressing, I really need to! Girl, you take advantage of not working, get it get it.
YAY for a breath of fresh air, some relaxation and being able to fit into kids shoes. I have small feet and I’m always like “GUESS HOW MUCH MY SHOES COST?!! ….so annoying. I love love ginger, and kinda love almonds, so this entire dish is most likely perfection.
I love all the colors and flavors you have in this dish! Yum!
I love cauliflower rice, and with that dressing and those cashews?? Even better!