Food trends have taken over the internet. A scroll through Facebook or Instagram is simply incomplete without passing at least one thirty-second how-to of some dish that you’ll likely never make on your own. It’s not that you are incapable of cooking a good meal (well, maybe you are and luckily, there’s an app for that!), but most often, these dishes and meals require a plethora of ingredients and kitchen appliances that the average young adult simply does not have (recipe calls for an immersion blender? YEAH, RIGHT!) Being in college can be hard enough balancing classes, friends, and part-time jobs. With all of that on the mind, spending a lot of time and money at the grocery store only to go home and slave away in the kitchen is not uncommon. Luckily, the following food trends don’t require too many ingredients and are super easy to make. They highlight my all time favorite food trend to hit the newsfeed: cauliflower rice.
Cauliflower rice is super versatile and incredibly good for you. It’s packed with potassium, a mineral essential for the proper functioning of major organs, vitamin C, an antioxidant that promotes skin and brain health, glucosinolates, sulfur-containing compounds that activate the body’s detoxification system, and many more! Aside from the many vitamins and minerals that have packed their way into this lovely, crunchy veg, it is also a great substitute for a starch in a recipe when you’re looking for a low-carb replacement. In all honesty, it just sounds like the most beneficial and appetizing part of a meal following a weekend binge of beer, wine, and pizza. The coolest part about cauliflower rice is that it can be used in meals throughout the whole day. You’re probably thinking, “What? Breakfast, lunch, and dinner?! IMPOSSIBLE.” Well, think again! Here are some ways you can use cauliflower rice throughout the day, even at sunrise:
To start, you’ll need to make the rice for each recipe. The easiest way is to make that adult investment and buy a food processor, but if you don’t want to dish out the cash, feel free to rice your cauliflower using a grater or chopping it finely with a knife. Once riced, you can attack any of these recipes with confidence. (You can also feel free to prep extra cauliflower ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in your fridge ahead for easy access for the following 1-2 days.)
Breakfast: Cinnamon Bun CauliOats
A super sweet addition to your morning routine, these “oats” (which oddly enough have a very mistakable texture and appearance as oatmeal) have an incredible flavor that reminds me of a lazy Sunday morning, even if I’m cooking them up on a dreary hump day. Feel free to make them uniquely yours by switching up your add-ins – try banana coins and almond butter with some chocolate chips or sweet cherries and blackberries with some chopped walnuts and a drizzle of honey!
Lunch: Egg-Fried Cauliflower Rice
Skip the line at the local Chinese takeout hotspot and kick your feet up with this super easy recipe for egg-fried cauliflower rice. With just a handful of ingredients, you’ll turn your usually bloat-worthy lunch into a feel-good, delicious meal. All of your friends will be sups jealous when they find out that you were able to make it all on your own, too. This recipe doesn’t call for any additional proteins, but feel free to jazz it up with sliced chicken breast, some leftover pork chops or steak, and maybe even some edamame! The choice is all yours!
Dinner: Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Perhaps the most popular modern food trend dominating the internet is the replacement of the typical doughy pizza crust with the crisp, easy-to-make cauliflower crust. It’s an easy way to sneak in a little extra veg when your mind is racing around all the cheeses, sauce, and mounds of toppings you’re planning to pile onto it once it’s ready. This recipe calls for ingredients that are commonly found in almost every kitchen, so it’s easy to throw together when you’re craving something yummy and you’re already in your comfiest sweats. The best part? So customizable. My roommates and I love to bust open a bottle of rosé and each make our own personal pizzas before curling up every Monday to the drama on The Bachelor (obvi eating our feelings when Nick cries…which is surprisingly a lot…) So, get into your favorite sweats and whip up a good batch of this super yummy pizza crust and get creative in that kitchen! (It’s also a great way to use up anything extra in the fridge that might be getting a wee bit riper than you’d planned…)
Dessert: Chocolate Pizza
Now, if you’re anything like me and my roommates, the hot and cold, back and forth drama of The Bachelor most often has us craving a big bowl of chocolates and S’mores flavored ice cream. BUT STEP ASIDE BEN AND JERRY – THERE’S A NEW KID IN TOWN. As much as we love our cheesy, crispy cauliflower crust pizza, we absolutely adore this chocolate pizza on a cocoa cauliflower crust. The sweet chocolate sentiment will soon have you forgetting that vegetables even exist, nonetheless that there is one woven entirely throughout your dessert! Just as before, this pizza is super customizable – feel free to add marshmallows, peanut butter, berries, honey, pretzels, caramel, M&Ms… seriously the list could go on for days. Who cares about some chocolate toppings for your chocolate pizza when it’s packed with all that cauliflower, right??
I hope you’re feeling as inspired (and hungry) as I am after exploring all of these incredible recipes! There are so many circulating Facebook and Twitter, but these are some of the best I’ve tried so far (and trust me, I’ve tried a lot). Pinterest is filled with recipes just like these ones, so get in the kitchen and get creative! It’s not hard to add a healthful boost to your meals throughout the day without dreadfully eating a bowl of salad greens at each meal. Have fun and enjoy the foods you love with a little (cauli) twist instead!