One of my favorite things about January, other than the lovely weather, is the abundance of new products out. Yes, this influx may be driven by the diet culture which I so loathe, but alas I cannot grumble too much because most new foods tend to be vegan friendly.
Whilst mooching around M&S I couldn’t help but spot this Garlic and Ginger Cauliflower Rice in the stir fry aisle. I’ve heard a lot about cauliflower rice this past twelve months, but I’ve never really wanted to try it, maybe it is the whole concept of faux carbs that freaks me out, I don’t know, but I’m always open to trying new things. Okay, this may not be necessarily true but for the sake of this post can we pretend it is? The rice is quite pretty, bejewelled with various vegetables like carrots and peppers. This colourful addition provides a lot more than aesthetic value though, they add a nice flavor to the rice and a bit of variation in texture. The texture of the cauliflower isn’t particularly rice like if I’m honest, it’s more like quinoa because it still has a crunch to it. This unexpected texture is far from a bad thing though, I think that I preferred it to regular rice.
The cauliflower flavor was very subtle, and nowhere near as strong as I’d imagined. This worked well with the strong garlic flavor which was well distributed, I love garlic so this was great for me! The addition of the ginger was interesting. Initially, I was put off by the ginger as I’m not a big fan of it in savoury things, but I was pleasantly surprised! I loved the flavour, it was mild and simply added a bit of a kick at the end of each mouthful. I think that this would be perfect with a Thai curry or even with some stir fried vegetables on top with tofu. I may be getting ahead of myself with all of this but I am definitely a cauliflower rice convert! Never did I expect to enjoy faux carbs so much, but alas I thoroughly enjoyed this.
Rating – 8.5/10Vegan – YesCalories – 36 per half a packBuy Again? - Yes