Heart Healthy Fried Cauliflower Rice
My family has made a very conscious decision to begin a more heart-healthy lifestyle. Mr. Man and the 4 amigos as well as my parents, siblings and their families; we’ve all decided it is time to make a permanent change together. As I have been researching heart-healthy foods and recipes, I’ve noticed it isn’t as hard as I assumed it would be. The recommendations from the American Heart Association as well as the CDC and Mayo Clinic all suggest low sodium, low-fat diet with complex carbs and plenty of fruits and vegetables. For an individual who has hypertension, high cholesterol, and/or heart disease (especially if they’ve had a cardiac event) the recommended amount of sodium intake each day is no more than 1500mg.
I’m not going to lie, my family is full of individuals who are carb lovers…chocolate, anything doughy or starchy…after all, dad’s call sign when he was a B-52 Navigator was Dough Boy. He was notorious for being a donut lover; but I am determined to meal plan and prepare foods that will cause my family to not miss the carbs, sugars, salt, and fat.
Tonight I made my Cauliflower Fried Rice. I’ve made it numerous times for my little family and my boys absolutely love it. In fact, the first time I made fried rice with cauliflower instead of regular rice, they didn’t even notice a difference. This time I added chicken, but I’ve also added ham and even had an all-vegetarian meal without any added meat. The way I made it tonight, I added vegetable oil with the sesame oil because vegetable-based fats have 0 trans and saturated fats. A heart-healthy diet means little to no trans and saturated fats. I also did a combination of low sodium soy sauce and liquid aminos to keep the sodium intake low. This recipe can be a Whole 30 recipe, the only change that would need to be made is to use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and to only use liquid aminos with no soy sauce. Everything else stays the same.
My siblings and mom were very pleasantly surprised at how yummy this recipe is. Even my kid brother who absolutely hates cauliflower ate it up. And prep/cook time this recipe only took me 25 minutes to make. It would’ve been less had I purchased premade cauliflower rice instead of making my own with a head of cauliflower and my food processor.
If you make this recipe, let me know how you enjoyed…or didn’t enjoy…it. And did you do anything differently? I’d love to hear any variations you made when you prepared this meal.
Heart-Healthy Fried Cauliflower Rice
Equipment
- large frying pan, or wok
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp sesame oil
- 16 oz cauliflower rice
- 12 oz frozen peas and carrots
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 large garlic cloves minced
- 3 eggs or just egg whites
- avocado oil
Instructions
- If adding any uncooked meat to the rice, brown that first in the pan with avocado oil. While meat is cooking, chop the onion and mince the garlic. Once the meat is heated through and browned add the sesame oil, onion and frozen peas/carrots into the pan. Let saute until the onion is translucent and the peas and carrots are no longer frozen; then add the minced garlic and let saute for another 3-4 minutes. While that is sauteing, in another pan take the eggs and scramble them. Cook the eggs through and set aside. Now add the cauliflower rice and scrambled eggs to the meat and vegetable mixture. You’ll want to work quickly so you don’t cook the cauliflower too long for it to become mush. After you’ve stirred the ingredients in the pot, begin adding in the soy sauce or liquid aminos until you reach your desired flavor. Then serve.
Nutrition
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