Cauliflower-Garlic Rice

Once a month I cook part of a meal for a local charity called 'Community Cooks'.  It's a self-described 'network of volunteers offering home-cooked meals to hungry and vulnerable neighbors of our community'.  I get assigned a different part of a meal every month and cook enough for about 12-people.  I've been doing it since October, and I've made:

October - Roasted Zucchini & Pesto Penne and Cornbread Chili Casserole (I had to make double for this month, I think the recipes explain themselves)
November - Apple-Slaw (A Mark Bittman recipe that turned out way too oniony. Good concept though, cabbage, apple and a mustard dressing)
December - Gingerbread Trifle (this was a great recovery using a botched batch of gingerbread cupcakes that did not rise properly and would not come out of the muffin tin.  I layered vanilla pudding, crumbled gingerbread cupcakes, Cool Whip and crushed vanilla Oreo's)
January - Spaghetti Squash Casserole (Spaghetti squash, mushroom, green pepper, onion, garlic and spaghetti sauce mixed together and topped with a mixture of melted butter and breadcrumbs)

I've really enjoyed cooking for this charity.  It's been a great way to give back and I get to cook in the process! Doesn't get any better than that.

This month my assignment was to make a rice dish.  I have to say I was pretty stumped until I came across a great recipe on one of the cooking blogs I check regularly. I modified it a little bit (of course) but the basic concept is to make a creamy sauce by blending together cauliflower and garlic cooked in butter, then stir the sauce into some rice. 

Cauliflower-Garlic Rice
(original recipe click here)

• 3 cups dried brown rice
• 1 tablespoon or 1 large cube veggie bullion
• 1 extra-large head cauliflower
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped garlic (depending on how much you like garlic)
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley

1. Cook the rice according to the directions on the package.  This can be done ahead of time, use leftovers, whatever works :)
2. Roughly chop the cauliflower (include stems too, just not the leaves) and put it in a pot, then fill the pot with water to just under the level of the cauliflower.  Add the veggie bullion and bring to a boil. Boil for approximately 10-minutes until cauliflower is tender.
3. While the cauliflower cooks, peel and finely chop the garlic. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter and olive oil in a saucepan and add all the garlic.  Cook over low heat until the garlic just starts to turn golden.  Turn off heat and add the last tablespoon of butter (this last of the butter will melt quickly and more importantly bring the temperature down and keep the garlic from burning). Set-aside (and try not to eat all the butter with a loaf of bread, because seriously, it will smell that good).
4. When the cauliflower is done, drain it but reserve about 2 cups of the cooking liquid.  Use an immersion blender, or a blender, or a food processor to blend the cauliflower, adding some of the reserved liquid as needed to make the cauliflower mixture the consistency of a thick sauce (don't think you have to use all two cups).  Add the butter/garlic mixture and blend*.  Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Mix the sauce in with the rice.  If it's too thick, add some more of the reserved liquid.  Top with chopped fresh parsley and serve.
   

*You don't have to use all of the cauliflower-blend if you think there's too much. When I made this I actually boiled/blended two extra-large heads of cauliflower but then only used about half of that puree. It wasn't a bad thing though, the puree tastes good on its own.