When Is Rice, Not Rice?

When it's CauliRice of course!  Dana Carpender stopped by Tonia's Kitchen with her recipe for Potluck "Rice" salad. The rice is actually shredded cauliflower mixed with a lot of nutritious, delicious vegetables and homemade mayonnaise. The homemade part is important, simply because Dana, the author of 500 Paleo

Recipes says most commercial mayo offerings contain Omega-6 acids (not the healthy Omega-3s, in fact far from it!)  She says it's the kind of salad you can take to a picnic....pretty to look at, delicious to eat, moves fast when placed in front of hungry eaters!

Potluck "Rice" Salad

1 cauliflower, head
1 small red onion
1 red bell pepper
1 bunch scallions
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper

Whack your cauliflower in half, and remove the leaves. Trim off the very bottom of the stem. Now whack it into chunks, and run it through the shredding blade of your food processor. Dump the resulting "cauli-rice" into a microwaveable casserole with a lid, add a few tablespoons of water, cover, and nuke on "high" for 8-10 minutes.  While that's happening, dice your red onion and your pepper, and slice your scallions, including the crisp part of the green shoot. Throw all this in a huge mixing bowl (I'm lucky enough to have one made by Tupperware, that has a lid.) Mince your parsley and oregano, and throw that in, too.

Somewhere during all that chopping, your microwave will beep. Pull out the cauliflower and uncover it, to let out the steam and stop the cooking. Stir it up to let out more steam, then let it sit and cool a bit while you proceed with the rest of the recipe. Stirring it again every now and then will speed cooling.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice, until the whole thing is smooth and nice. This, of course, is your dressing.  When your cauliflower is cool enough that it's not going to cook all your other veggies (it can still be warm), drain it well and add it to the mixing bowl. Stir the whole thing up. Now add the dressing, and stir till everything is evenly coated.  Salt and pepper to taste. You can eat it right away if you like, but it's better if it's refrigerated