Cauliflower Fried "Rice"

I have really been trying to live right. And by that I mean, not eat Zaxby's, fried chicken, chocolate everything, and dinner rolls like they're going out of style. I know it's March, so maybe I need a new excuse, but it's something about that post-Holiday time of year where it's always hard for me to get back on the healthy eating train. But lately, I've said to myself that enough is enough. So I decided to hop on this cauliflower train and see what all the hype was about with people subbing it into all their favorite guilty-pleasure goods as a healthy and delicious alternative. I must say, this fried "rice" really helped me get into the hype myself. It's sooo good. And really I didn't miss the rice at all. My husband AND my almost 2 year old agreed. I mean seriously, my daughter ate it for lunch and dinner two days in a row she was so obsessed! Mom for the win!!

ingredients

1 medium head cauliflower; rinsed (if you don't have a food processor, try to find "riced" cauliflower in the frozen food section. About 2 pounds will equal to 1 head of fresh)

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 eggs

2 tsp salt

1/2 small sweet or yellow onion, chopped fine

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/4 large red bell pepper; chopped fine

2 teaspoons garlic paste (or 2 cloves; chopped fine)

5 tablespoons soy sauce (or more to taste)

1-2 tablespoon Hoisin sauce (I liked the sweeter taste; but taste it after one tablespoon to see if you want more)

black pepper; to taste

1/2 tsp fresh ginger; diced fine. (Go sparing- it's strong!); optional

*Mo Tip: If you have any leftover chicken (or if you just want to buy a rotisserie from your grocer) this is a perfect recipe to add it to to make this a one-pot meal!

directions

1. Rinse cauliflower and pat dry. Remove the core and roughly chop into florets. Place it in the food processor in 2-3 batches. Pulse the processor until the cauliflower looks like couscous or small rice grains. Don't over pulse and let it get mushy.

2. Heat a large skillet with a 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt, then add them to the skillet and cook. Set aside.

3. Add a tablespoon of the oil and sauté the onions, bell peppers, ginger, peas and carrots until the onion start to sauté. Approx. 2-3 minutes.

4. If you are adding the chicken; dice into small pieces and toss it in with the veggies and a tablespoon of hoisin sauce until warmed through and fully coated with sauce.

5. Add the rice, remaining sesame oil, soy sauce and hoisin sauce to the sautéing veggies. Cook approx. 5 minutes. After stirring the mixture around for the first couple of minutes, cover the pan and allow the cauliflower to get tender.

6. Add chopped fried egg to the rice, remove from heat and serve!