New Product Alert: Trader Joe's Organic Riced Cauliflower

I absolutely love using cauliflower as a replacement for rice. I've made a great Sicilian Rice-less Rice Stuffing (Cabbaliata) that is part of my Thanksgiving feast, a Deconstructed Riceless Sicilian "Rice Balls" (Arancini) and a Chinese Fried Rice-less Rice and I've loved them all but... dragging out the food processor to whiz up the cauliflower is an extra step and then cleaning it... ugh. I really don't mind in the cooler months, nice to hang out in the warm kitchen but when the summer temperatures heat up I want cooking and cleanup to be simple. I had heard through the grapevine that Trader Joe's (and a few other companies) were going to start making frozen Riced Cauliflower *cue the Hallelujah chorus* this is one of those, "Hello?! how did this not happen till now!?" products.

I had my fingers crossed it was going to be tasty, convenient is great but you have to be tasty or why bother. Oh how I loved just cutting open the bag and dumping it in the saute pan, it's riced to a couscous or orzo-like consistency, very even.

I made a tried and true Eggface recipe with it: Chinese Fried Rice-less Rice. I figured a recipe I knew the results, taste and texture of was the best judge of the product. Sauteed in just a drizzle of olive oil till slight color change and heated through...

I added all the other yummy ingredients. You can add whatever you want really... it's a great use for bits and bobs of leftovers bumping around the fridge. This time it was yellow onion, green onion, mushrooms, frozen peas, scrambled eggs, sometimes I add chicken or beef (cooked, chopped up.) If you have a piece of steak leftover or extra grilled chicken breast. This is the perfect vehicle for that.

and...

Verdict: We have a winner! Not only was this Riced Cauliflower super convenient, it was delicious. I noted no major texture changes from the freshly whizzed version and the taste soooo good. Now I have not tested it with something that needs to be crispy, so things like those cauliflower faux pizza crust recipes you see on Pinterest. I will one of these days and update the post but what a BIG time saver! Now all your focus can be on what to make with it. I'm jazzed and already planning my next "riceless" cauliflower creation.

Trader Joe's
$1.99 a bag/frozen section
Serving Size 1/3 package (4 oz.)
Servings Per Container about 3
Calories 30

It'll be added to my Post Weight Loss Surgery Pantry Essentials List. Let me know what you think of it.