garlic chicken with cauliflower rice

Being Asian, I grew up eating almost everything over rice. Unfortunately, white rice is full of starch and there is little nutritional value. Though brown rice is a great alternative, I have been loving cauliflower rice for an even healthier substitute. It looks just like rice. And the best part-- I never have to feel guilty.

How to Make Cauliflower Rice in 3 Steps:
1. Place a head of cauliflower (washed) into a food processor and pulse until desired rice-like consistency.
2. Transfer the cauliflower rice into a sautepan or skillet on the stove top. 
3. Cook on medium heat, carefully stirring occasionally until cooked. (I like to use a fork to fluff it up like rice.) Once it is cooked (which happens quickly), it's ready to eat! Season to taste-- I usually just add a little s+p at the very end.

So, now what to eat with cauliflower rice?  The answer is anything. But why not keep it Paleo with my Garlic Chicken Recipe..

Garlic Chicken

INGREDIENTS
2 lbs. uncooked chicken breast or thighs (I used thighs because they're juicier!)
15 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp whole grain dijon mustard
1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp fresh parsley, roughly chopped + more for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS
1. Place all ingredients into a medium to large bowl. Mix everything together well. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
2. At this point, you can cook your chicken however you like. I cooked it on the stovetop-- heat skillet on medium to medium high heat with a drizzle of EVOO. Cook a few minutes on each side so both sides are browned and chicken is cooked all the way through.
3. Place cooked chicken on a serving plate. Once all the chicken is cooked, pour the extra pan juices over all the chicken. Top with extra fresh parsley.

The final result is juicy, moist chicken studded with little crispy bits of garlic. The crispiness you get from some of the garlic is the best part. So, really, don't forget to pour the extra pan juices with lingering garlic over the cooked chicken!

When eating Paleo, constantly prepping for meals can get exhausting. Whenever I make chicken, I tend to make a lot of it because it is so versatile. Use leftovers to top salads, throw it in your breakfast egg scramble, etc etc.. you get the point. I never get tired of it.

If you'd rather not cook so much chicken at once, marinate the whole batch as instructed. Then, divide the batch. Seal what you don't want to cook immediately in a ziplock or vacuum sealed bag, freeze, and then defrost when you're ready to make this again. That works, too.