Lately I’ve been trying to eat more veggies. With the colder weather upon us, it’s hard to convince me to eat a salad. Warm food and cold weather just go better together. With that, I’ve been roasting a lot of veggies. (By the way, I can’t wait to try Fritzie’s mushroom recipe. Yummy!) For me, when it comes to roasting, I don’t really have a specific method to the madness. I take whatever veggie I have (these days I’m into cauliflower, carrots, and brussels sprouts), drizzle some kind of fat over it (coconut oil, bacon fat, sometimes olive oil, despite what the primal/paleo people advise against), and roast for about 10-20 minutes or so depending on what I’m roasting. At best, I’ll sprinkle salt. Typically, I keep it plain because it allows me to vary it up later on. Here’s the latest in my roasting adventures:
Since moving to South San Francisco a few months ago, I’m still adjusting to the Farmers’ Markets here. When I can make it, I like going to the College of San Mateo Farmers’ Market. While I still miss the Union City and Newark markets, this one is quite nice (slightly more pricey than my usual East Bay spots, but that’s living on this side of the bridge for you). There’s one lady who has amazing organic produce. Green cauliflower! Mmmm!
She also had purple cauliflower. I couldn’t resist. (Yes, they taste different. The green was slightly more sweet than the purple.)
While I’m trying to increase my vegetable intake, I’m also trying to decrease processed carbs. With that, I’ve been “ricing” a lot. Simply put, I take a roasted vegetable and toss it into the food processor to make vegetable “rice.” The photo above is an earlier batch of “rice” made with white cauliflower, carrots, chives, dried cranberry, and macadamia nuts. I don’t usually make it this fancy. I was just experimenting. Typically, I make “rice,” store in the fridge and use it as I would regular rice. It’s a great way to eat your veggies. For more on “rice,” check this out.
Live deliciously!
-joanne
academic kitchen 
What a great idea! I’ll have to try ricing. I’ve been trying to incorporate more veggies with my meals but I’ve mostly been roasting various veggies. I just add olive oil, garlic, sea salt, and pepper.
yes! i got a huge head of cauliflower (just white) in my farm box this past weekend. i’m going to make “rice” this week! the recipe you linked to looks fantastic!
You’d be surprised. I’m really enjoying making “rice.” It’s not as easy as popping it in the rice cooker, but it really accents meals well. I roast the veggies then toss in the food processor (a longer process) because I don’t like “wet” veggies. Hence, why I don’t steam much. Yeah. I know. I’m weird like that.
Also, I keep it really plain (salt, pepper, maybe garlic) because I like my main dish to determine the flavor of my rice. For example, the other week, I had a great meal consisting of rotisserie chicken, the white cauliflower rice in this post, sprinkled with some Ras El Hanout from “Well Fed.” It was delicious! In another meal, I used the same “rice,” but with a different meat and flavor component. If you keep your veggie “rice” plain, you can have lots of options.
Finally, I discovered that I don’t like meat in my “rice.” I made a batch of green rice with broccoli and bacon. Sounds great. For some reason, I kept wishing I kept the bacon out and made it strictly veggie. But that’s me and my weird cravings. (It could also be that I may not be a huge fan of broccoli. Or maybe I’m fussy about broccoli. Hmph.) Lmk how you like your “rice!”