Fried Cauliflower Rice with a Side of Gratitude

As a wellness coach, I often talk to people about emotional eating. But, lately, it's the feelings I get when I cook that have been food for thought. Take my Grandma Levy's Noodle Kugel. Pure love is all I felt when I recently made it. I thought of her the whole time. How as a kid I would get swallowed up in her hangy tricep, big boob hug. How we'd walk to Old Orchard and she would magically find money on the ground - every time. How she had a bag of Brach's bulk candy under her kitchen sink full of my favorite cinnamon and butter scotch. How even though I gagged when she fed me soft-boiled eggs, I still couldn't wait to have breakfast with her. Being around her was heaven on earth and making her kugel was pure joy.

When I make dishes full of fresh vegetables and lots of color, I often feel awestruck that the earth made this food. It can blow your mind if you let it.

Sometimes when I eat chicken or fish, I feel sad for the animal. But then I quickly put that out of my mind or else I'd be a vegetarian for life.

When I cook food with clean ingredients, I feel lucky to know what my body needs and grateful to be able to afford it.

So, when I cooked this cauliflower rice - you can't have enough cauliflower rice recipes - I felt a sense of ick. This recipe is adapted from one of Gwyneth Paltrow's on Goop. As I was chopping, I realized I don't like her, but she's never done anything to me, so what's my deal? I narrowed it down to the human emotion no one likes to talk about...envy. Digging deeper as a wellness coach, spiritual explorer and yogi does, I realized her success was making me feel inadequate. It's why I stopped reading People magazine. Here on earth, life doesn't look like that. Life is messy. Especially when cooking cauliflower rice. I doubted Gwyneth got cauliflower rice stuck to her socks or put her pan on the kitchen floor to take a photo. But, maybe she did.

One quote I love is "comparison is the thief of joy." True, but in this case, comparison allowed me to feel grateful for my lucky life and for the cauliflower stuck to my socks. To feel truly content with my life and the love I have experienced as long as I can remember.

So, in the 15 minutes it took me to make this dish, I released my latent grudge with Gwyneth and gave myself the gift of gratitude. And, I had a tasty dinner to show for it.

I substituted Brussels sprouts for zucchini and spinach for kale. Next time, I'd skip the Tamari - too salty and I don't like soy, even if it's gluten free.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cauliflower rice - I bought mine at Trader Joe's. Whole Foods has it too. You can probably find it anywhere or simply pulse small handfuls of cauliflower florets in a high speed blender until riced - just a couple seconds.

• 1 tsp avocado or olive oil

• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 cup small diced Brussels sprouts or zucchini

• 2 tsp finely chopped ginger

• 2 small scallions, chopped, greens only

• 1 full cup spinach, then finely chopped

• 1 T coconut aminos - or 2 T coconut aminos and no tamari

• 1 T tamari

Instructions

• Over medium high heat, heat oil in In a large sauté pan. Add Brussels, cook until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes.

• Add cauliflower rice, spinach, ginger, and scallions, and sauté for another 2 or 3 minutes.

• Remove from heat, add coconut aminos and tamari.

MAKES: 3-4 servings

TIME: 20 minutes max with chopping

HEARTFUL RECIPE - One of our real food recipes that focuses on veggies, protein, healthy fats and/or healthy carbs and doesn't include gluten, dairy, soy, refined sugar, corn or peanuts.