Love Rice But Want To Cut Calories? Try This

According to the nutritional information, my brown rice is usually 190 calories a cup?

Em on May 9, 2012

What a great idea! I love love love cauliflower-I can't wait to try this and to make your "rice" and bean bowl which sounds yummy!

Monica on May 9, 2012

I've kept a container of steamed, chopped cauliflower in my fridge most of the time since I started WW a year ago. It's great for bulking up almost anything - chili, soup, stir-fry, etc., a little in an omelette tastes surprisingly like potatoes. And, of course, I could eat a whole cookie sheet of roasted cauliflower!! I still make my brown rice "cakes" in 1/2 cup portions to freeze for when I want the nutrition and taste of brown rice - I find a 1/2 cup portion (2.5 Pts+) enough to add to a stir fry or to hot & sour soup along with 3 oz chicken to make a good healthy meal without too many points as long as all the rest is 0 pts veggies - 6 Pts+ for rice & chicken + 0 Pts+ for mushrooms, peppers & onions makes a really low points meal - even counting the veggies in Recipe Builder, you get a really substantial meal for less than 9 Pts+. Just save your brown rice for mixing with 0 Pts+ veggies and use cauliflower when mixing with higher points foods, and you can use both to your advantage :-)

JaneG on May 9, 2012

Great ideas for using less rice JaneG. I will definitely try the cauliflower sub'd for rice since I tend to eat way more rice than I should. Thanks Lisa for the great idea! :)

Donyita on May 9, 2012

Is that a cup of cooked or uncooked rice? Mine says 218 per cup cooked.

Laurie on May 9, 2012

That is a great idea.

Sigrid Rogowski on May 9, 2012

The cauliflower pizza is tricky to get right - I bake it on parchment paper that is liberally sprayed with oil (yeah yeah, olive oil is yum) and it tastes sort of frittata-ish. It was good during Passover!

If anyone (you, Snack Girl?) has a Vitamix, I recommend wet-chopping the cauliflower so you get it perfectly grated in about 2 seconds. You do have to dry it/drain it, but it sure beats actual grating to me! ;)

Marla on May 9, 2012

Eating rice/carbs isn't a bad thing though -- your body needs carbs to recover after work outs, and for energy. Perhaps the goal should be to cut your rice intake in half, and substitute cauliflower for the other half of the rice portion?

Stephanie G on May 9, 2012

When I saw the latest photo I thought, "Hey, what is snack girl doing eating all that white rice?!" What a great idea! That cauliflower that's been staring at me in my fridge is toast...well, "rice". What a great idea - thanks!

Robin on May 9, 2012

Wonderful dish! If you go to Trader Joe's and get the forzen organic Brown Rice it's only 160 calories for one cup! It's fantastic! My brown rice hating family even loves this rice. 3 minutes in the microwave and it's done!

Jennifer @ Peanut Butter and Peppers on May 9, 2012

I like it. I like it A LOT!!! Thanks for providing yet another genious idea for cauliflower.

Shelli on May 9, 2012

This blog today is quite a coincidence since just 5 minutes ago I read another article about chopping cauliflower as a sub for rice too. (The article was about veggies that you can eat raw that aren't typically eaten that way). I'm definitely going to have to try this now. It's like an sign from, well, Weight Watchers I guess. Either that or cauliflower got the same marketing group as kale. :)

Janet on May 9, 2012

Misinformation here: "...an all protein diet such as Atkin's or Zone." Look out, your bias is showing. Neither is an all-protein diet, they are carbohydrate-controlled diets. Atkins is based on protein, vegetables, fruit (in limited quantities during initial weight loss phase), and seeds/nuts, with even more carbs allowed in maintenance. Zone Diet is even more inclusive. People who watch their carb intake have been subbing cauliflower (and other veggies) for rice for years. At long last, other dieters are coming to understand that reducing overall carb consumption is important for many people, especially those looking to control their weight. The new WW Points system takes carbs into account rather than just fat (finally!) and people are having more success with it. It's frustrating to see people take the handy carb-cutting tips from the low-carb world while still finding it necessary to bash the healthy low-carb plans they're cribbing from.

Jas on May 9, 2012

Here's a thought about your pizza crust. You could try baking it on a sheet of Reynolds No-Stick aluminum foil. I have yet to find ANYTHING that sticks to that stuff. I bet you could bake it on a Silpat-type of pan liner, as well.

The idea of substituting cauliflower for rice is very interesting, and I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

Cindy on May 9, 2012

I've bit my tounge quite a bit lately, but I really can't take it anymore. I understand swapping out treats with healthier alternatives (I loved the chocolate dipped figs, for instance) but this is a grain. Points or not, grain is something your body needs. Saving your points by eating veggies is great, but not if you're so obsessed with counting points/calories that you can't eat a whole grain that your body actually needs.

What is the point of losing weight if you don't feel really good later? Cutting out grains is going to cause nothing but fatigue and nutritional deficiencies. And what are you saving that whole four points for, anyway, that a grain isn't going to satisfy?

Lately it feels like the only thing you're giving us is weight loss tips. Health tips benefit us so much more than "skinny recipes" and as someone trying to bring about healthy eating, the fact that you're teaching us to swap out brown rice, an unprocessed whole food, for a vegetable that, while good for you, is not a substitute for rice is going to hurt a lot more people than it will help.

You explicitly say you don't believe in low carb diets, so why cater to low carb dieters? I really respect you, Snack Girl, but I miss the focus on health over weight loss.

Courtney on May 9, 2012

I love this idea! Our family LOVES rice and my children are fairly healthy eaters but I would love to sneak in a few more vegatables at times. I think it's a great idea and can't wait to try it out! Thanks!

Ashley on May 9, 2012

I like the idea of substituting cauliflower for at least part of the rice in a dish because I'm a Type 2 diabetic who is controlling it through diet and exercise. Since I count carbs at every meal, I, for one, think the cauliflower is a wonderful suggestion. I still eat rice, but it doesn't take very much rice to fulfill carb requirements for a meal.

Cindy Wallace on May 9, 2012