This past weekend Ben and I went on a double date with friends and got to talking about how to eat and live healthier in our 30s. Ben just had the 1 year anniversary of his heart scare, and the other couple is turning 30 this year, so we were discussing how we’re taking better care of our bodies by eating more vegetables in particular.
In the Midwest it’s very common to have a protein, vegetable, and non-vegetable starch like bread or pasta at every meal. Not wrong, not right – it just is! That said, we wondered what would happen if – gasp! – we didn’t eat a starch with each meal (trust me, we talked about more riveting topics than starches all night!) Starches can be hard to work off, are typically devoid of nutrition, and often served as filler. Truly I feel like I serve a starch with dinner more out of habit than anything else. How nuts is that?
I took it as a personal challenge to prove that it’s not only easy to increase your daily vegetable intake, but not miss the empty calories of unnecessary starches. Oh, and like it too (no easy feat!) How about serving a baked sweet potato instead of a side of pasta at dinner? Pairing a bowl of soup with salad instead of a roll at lunch? Or skipping a muffin for my Very-Veggie Cauliflower Hash Brown Breakfast Bowls in the am instead?
Riced cauliflower which, despite its name, makes an excellent replacement for hash browns, is sizzled up then topped with eggs scrambled with greens and mushrooms, a dousing of salsa or hot sauce, and a generous dollop of Lazy Girl’s Guacamole. Plant-based (though if you want to add bacon I’ll totally look the other way!), gluten and dairy-free, filling, but most importantly so, so satisfying. This breakfast is the definition of feel good food.
Cauliflower rice is definitely having a moment right now. Like, there’s nothing it can’t do. Except be wine. That’d be nice! Anyway, it’s so versatile, and not only do we use it in place of actual rice around here, like in my Cauliflower Fried Rice + four recipes at the end of this post, but it also makes an awesome replacement for hash browns. Nothing against the humble potato, which is of course a vegetable and undeniably delicious, but good hash browns require a ton of oil or butter to make them breakfast-worthy. Cauliflower on the other hand? Just a tiny drizzle will do ya, plus you reap the dozens of nutritional benefits that come along with eating this super food.
There are several options for making and/or procuring cauliflower rice: send the florets through a food processor fitted with the grating blade, grate the head on a box grater, or purchase a bag of cauliflower crumbles from the store – Green Giant and Trader Joe’s both have product I know of.
I’ll be straight up and tell you that cauliflower rice doesn’t get crispy like hash browns, but the experience is similar. It’s all about the visual with this dish, and once the cauliflower is sauteed, it’s a dead ringer for its potato counterpart.
Best of all? This meal is super easy to throw together and although I’m labeling them “breakfast bowls” I’ve eaten this dish for every meal of the day. Vegetable power, baby!
Start by adding a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to a 10″ skillet over medium heat. Add 4oz sliced mushrooms then saute until they release their water. After the liquid has evaporated (there should only be a little,) season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, saute until the mushrooms are golden brown, and then remove to a plate.
Add another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to the skillet then turn the heat up to medium-high. Add 1-1/2 cups cauliflower rice, season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then saute until crisp-tender, 4-5 minutes.
Remove the cauliflower hash browns to your serving bowl then turn the heat back down to medium and add the mushrooms back into the skillet along with 1 chopped green onion and a handful of a baby spinach blend, or baby spinach. Saute until the greens have wilted, then add 2 eggs that have been whisked and scramble.
Scoop the scrambled veggie eggs onto the cauliflower rice then top with a big spoonful of salsa and my Lazy Girl’s Guacamole, aka 1/2 avocado mashed with lemon or lime juice, garlic powder, and salt. ???????? Pair with a cup of coffee, cold OJ, or big cup of water to jump start your day the healthy way – with VEGETABLES! Enjoy!
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Very-Veggie Cauliflower Hash Brown Breakfast Bowl
Description
Start your day with a punch of vegetable power! Very-Veggie Cauliflower Hash Brown Breakfast Bowl is a healthy vegetarian breakfast that satisfies
Ingredients
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/2 lime or lemon
- garlic powder, salt, and pepper
- 2 eggs
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1-1/2 cups cauliflower rice
- 4oz mushrooms, sliced
- 1 small handful baby spinach
- 1 green onion, chopped
- salsa
Directions
- Add avocado, lime or lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste to a small bowl then mash with a fork and set aside. Whisk eggs with salt and pepper in a small bowl then set aside.
- Heat a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a 10" skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms then saute until they release their water. After the water has cooked off, season mushrooms with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then saute until golden brown. Scoop into a bowl then set aside.
- Turn heat up to medium-high then add another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to the skillet. Add cauliflower, season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then saute until crisp-tender, 4-5 minutes. Scoop cauliflower into your serving bowl then set aside.
- Turn heat back down to medium then add the mushrooms back into the skillet along with the green onions and baby spinach. Saute until spinach is barely wilted, 30 seconds, then add whisked eggs and scramble. Scoop mixture on top of sautéed cauliflower hash browns then top with mashed avocado and salsa.
Notes
- I used my Cuisinart Food Processor fitted with the grating blade to make cauliflower rice.
- You can pre-grate the cauliflower for the week then keep in a Ziplock bag in the fridge. Note: it might smell a little strong the next day, but the taste is fine!
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
More Cauliflower Rice Recipes
Low-Carb Bacon-Cheddar Cauliflower Chowder
Low-Carb Cauliflower Cream Cheese Soup
Sheet Pan Sausage and Peppers with Parmesan-Garlic Cauliflower Rice
Sweet Chili Coconut-Lime Grilled Chicken with Coconut-Lime Cauliflower Rice
Erin C 04.13.2017
OMG this looks divine. We have a new baby in the house so my “breakfast” usually comes in the form of a spoonful of peanut butter at 10AM, but I will definitely be making this for lunch (all hail the 2-hour newborn nap)! I’m working to get the last 5lbs of baby weight off, and I’m all for any swaps that don’t negatively impact my wine consumption :)
Juliette @ Namastay Traveling 04.06.2017
This looks delicious, especially those mushrooms, yum. I bet this will win over my veggie-hatin boyfriend!
Sondra Leslie 04.05.2017
Hi Kristin – this was awesome. I turned it into a dinner bowl so I eliminated the eggs, added zucchini, black beans, roasted corn and roasted tomatoes to your list of veggies. I topped it with the salsa and pan seared orange roughy. We literally inhaled it. Looking forward to trying for breakfast.
Kristin 04.10.2017
Ummm YUM. Sounds awesome, Sondra! Thanks so much for leaving your feedback!
Melony 04.04.2017
I am DROOLING right now looking at this recipe. Can’t wait to try it, I love every single thing that’s in it :) My daughter has recently decided to become vegetarian and won’t eat the eggs, but I think it would be easy enough to split it into 2 pans when it’s time to add them.
Kristin 04.04.2017
Totally! I hope you both enjoy it, Melony! :)
Melissa 04.04.2017
This recipe truly resembles the ideal meal! I’m a huge fan of cauliflower and recently tried cauliflower rice and loved it. Since seeing this recipe early this morning, I’ve been thinking about it and definitely plan to recreate it this weekend! Thanks so much for sharing!
Kristin 04.04.2017
I hope you love it, Melissa!
Emily 04.04.2017
Thank you for this recipe and the other cauliflower rice recipes! I bought a bag from Trader Joe’s a few weeks ago on a whim, but it went bad before I could use it because I couldn’t find a recipe on how to make it. I should have known to check out your site!
Kristin 04.04.2017
Totally guilty of doing that before with produce – now you’ve got a bunch of ideas for next time though! :)
Lisa B 04.04.2017
I am SO excited about this recipe! Already sent a text to the hubby to pick up the 2 ingredients I don’t have to make this dish tonight! (One of those is cauliflower….ha!)
Lisa B 04.04.2017
The husband’s response…. “when are you going to make that again!?”
Kristin 04.04.2017
Yessss!! So glad to hear it, Lisa!! Thanks so much for your feedback!
Dara 04.04.2017
I am a long time reader of your blog and really enjoy so many of your easy, delicious and healthy recipes. This looks great! I just feel that some if the information you’ve provided to your readers is incorrect. Carbohydrates, like pasta, rice, bread, and other grains are definitely not “devoid of nutrition.” Carbs provide our body and our brains with much needed energy. They contain fibre, protein, and a range of vitamins and minerals. Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and other starchy vegetables are also a great choice, but so is whole grain pasta, brown rice, and *gasp* even white flour based carbs. I just wouldn’t want your readers to think they needed to shun all “starches.” Thanks!
Kristin 04.04.2017
I totally agree with you Dara, and it was never my intention to insinuate that people should give up ALL non-vegetable starches. I personally couldn’t because I love GF white bread and pasta too much! That sentence in particular was more to show how we could replace the foods I listed – muffins, rolls, and pasta – with vegetables when and if we could. Totally a suggestion though. I am not a nutritionist nor dietitian and I would never tell anyone how to eat. Thank you for your thoughtful feedback!
olivia 04.04.2017
Hi Kristin, I’m a Registered Dietitian and I just wanted to play a bit off what Dara said here! Starches are extremely important to our diet- I know you of course know this! There is nothing wrong with having a starch at every meal, and is in fact promoted! Just of course, choosing whole grain pasta over white pasta, for instance, is preferable. So at breakfast, honestly you should eat that starch, it provides necessary fuel for the day! Just aim for a slice of whole grain bread vs white bread. Also, as a side note, sweet potatoes are a starch! They do provide more nutritive value than a side of white pasta however, you were right there!
Casey the College Celiac 04.04.2017
Genius! I totally thought these were hashbrowns when I first saw the photo…and I’m a sucker for veggies with guac ;) Nothing better than that creamy/crunchy combo!
Sara @ Last Night's Feast 04.04.2017
This looks so good! I’ve tried mashed cauliflower before instead of potatoes, but I’ve never thought about using it for hash browns. Cool idea!
Erica 04.04.2017
Yum, can’t wait to try this! Just made your cauliflower fried rice last night and it was soooo good!
Kristin 04.04.2017
So glad to hear it, Erica!! Let me know what you think of the dish if you get a chance to try it! :)
Alison 04.04.2017
I made your cauliflower fried rice (with chicken) last night for dinner and it was a big hit! I realized that I lost the grater for my food processor, though, so box grater it was. Not going to lie, I was scared for my knuckles. Substitute for potatoes? Brilliant!
Kristin 04.04.2017
I hear you – I have a few scars on my knuckles from the ol’ box grater!
elizabeth 04.04.2017
Thanks for the idea! I have done a very similar breakfast scramble using grated sweet potato instead of regular hash browns. It was also good!
Kristin 04.04.2017
Love sweet potatoes for breakfast! I just made spiralized sweet potatoes with bacon and eggs today. :)
Stacey 04.04.2017
I’ve been using Bird’s Eye (frozen) since it steams in the bag from Hy-Vee!
Kristin 04.04.2017
Thanks for the recommendation, Stacey – I didn’t know Bird’s Eye had a version!
Carrie this fit chick 04.04.2017
YES! I did a post on cauliflower rice recipes the other week! It’s such a staple in my diet. I make cauliflower rice stir fries and my take on ‘risotto’ every week!
Kristin 04.04.2017
I have been wanting to try cauliflower risotto! Do you have a specific recipe you love?
Tom ~ Raise Your Garden 04.04.2017
Nice how you incorporated cauliflower into breakfast! And I like the no-starches, as I now cook almost all breakfasts cause wife is pregnant and wants to easier pass her 1 hour glucose test.
Kristin 04.04.2017
Ah, gotcha – yes this is a great dish for her then! Congrats to you guys!
Michelle 04.04.2017
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Ever since I did Whole30 a few years ago I’ve been all about having vegetables for breakfast. You should see the looks I get from co-workers when I’m heating up leftover stir fry or having a salad for breakfast. Think I’ll also try your sheetpan sausage & peppers for breakfast too!
Kristin 04.04.2017
Yes, that recipe is perfect for breakfast!! The leftovers reheat really well too. :)
Kristi 04.04.2017
This post couldn’t have come at a better time! I have been trying to eat more veggies vs. starches in the AM, and was beginning to tire of squash as the base vegetable. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Kristin 04.04.2017
Perfect! Let me know if you try it, Kristi!
Tammy 04.04.2017
Is there a reason you’ve switched to using garlic powder instead of garlic salt in your dishes?
Kristin 04.04.2017
Ben bought a big jar of garlic powder so I’ve been trying to use it up. Additionally Ben is watching his salt intake so garlic powder is a great way to get the flavor of garlic without having to add any additional salt.
Lauryn 04.04.2017
This looks delicious! I was going to make a frittata for dinner tonight, but I’m pretty sure I have all the ingredients on hand to make this instead. I love the idea of using the riced cauliflower as a hash brown style base. Thanks for the inspiration!
Kristin 04.04.2017
You bet, Lauryn! I hope you love it! :)
Aliya 05.12.2020
I made this dish. I didn’t have mushrooms and my avocados weren’t ripe enough to mash but OMG this is delicious!!! Thanks didn’t even miss meat!!