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Cauliflower Rice “Caulisotto” Recipe

This is a great side dish that exemplifies my current philosophy on food. In this Autoimmune-Paleo dietary regime I’m following, grains – especially gluten – are avoided. That seems to leave out classic dishes like pastas, rice, and risotto. But, these dishes are memorable for their sauce, not their starch. That’s why I feel like this cauliflower rice risotto: It’s much lower in calories, gluten-free, dairy-free, and can even be vegan, but packs a savoury, comforting, tasty punch. It’s hard to believe that without cream, butter, or wheat, a dish can be this tasty!

Cauliflower rice isn’t exactly rice. It is the vegetable cauliflower diced into rice-sized pieces, or “riced.” I have found it in fresh and frozen varieties, and I imagine you can “rice” your own. All varieties just need to be mixed with some oil and warmed up. In the case of this cauliflower risotto, it’s mixed with a lot of good stuff.

Like many of my recipes, this one is based on a recipe found in “The Autoimmune Solution Cookbook” by Dr. Amy Myers.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves or 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 0.5 tsp rosemary
• 2 cups Cauliflower Rice, frozen or fresh
• 10 spears asparagus, trimmed into 1-inch pieces
• 0.5 cups bone broth
• 0.5 cups full-fat coconut milk
• 0.5 tsp ground pepper
• 0.5 tsp sea salt
• 0.5 tsp nutmeg
• 0.5 tsp xanthan gum (optional)

Put coconut oil in a large pan on medium heat. Once melted, saute garlic, onion, and rosemary for about 5 minutes until onions are a little translucent. 

Add cauliflower rice, asparagus, and bone broth. Boil/saute for about 5 more minutes.|
If you want to make this dish vegan, you can use a vegetable based-stock instead of the bone broth.

Then add coconut milk, pepper, salt, and nutmeg. You can adjust the spice ratio to your taste. More pepper for more bite. More salt, more salty. The nutmeg is kind of a savoury enhancer. 

Saute until the sauce thickens, which should take about 5 more minutes. You want it to have a creamy texture, not dry. 

In my pre-autoimmune-days, I would have made a roux using flour and butter. But now, I tend to add xanthan gum. It’s a magical substance that thickens sauces. And just 0.5 teaspoons added after the coconut milk will quickly transform the sauce and make it thicker.