recipes {fried cauli-rice & marinated salmon}

for the past 5 weeks mark & i have been counting calories in an attempt to lose some weight that we both put on during our first year of marriage. i was a bit hesitant to embark on this journey with mark because, as anyone that knows me knows, i love love love food. :)

i have still been cooking up a storm, as usual, but featuring healthier recipes in smaller portions. during my research for better options i have stumbled upon some of the latest diet fads & health food options and have actually taken bits & pieces from everything i find. my latest discovery is using cauliflower as a substitute for rice & potatoes.

i wasn't sure how this would work out, but i honestly couldn't tell that i was eating cauliflower instead of rice. i would highly recommend trying the recipe below because i know you will love it just as much as i did! in fact, i wanted to play a trick on mark & serve him the fried rice without informing him that it wasn't actually rice just to see if he could even tell. i was too anxious to share my new discovery with him & completely forgot to play my little trick on him. i was so bummed! if you have a spouse or friend who hates veggies, play this little trick on them & let me know what happens! :)
p.s. my apologies for the low quality pictures, they are from my iphone!

Fried Cauli-Rice

3 cups shredded cauliflower
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
1 tsp oil
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
5 green onions, chopped, the white & green parts kept separated 
2 medium carrots, shredded
1 cup shelled edamame
2 tbsp soy sauce

1. To shred the cauliflower place medium sized pieces of cauliflower in a food processor with the shredder blade attachment or use a hand grater. Prepare 3 cups.
2. Scramble the egg whites & whole egg together. Add a pinch of salt & pepper. Heat a wok or a large skillet and scramble the eggs. Remove scrambled eggs & set aside.
3. Add oil to pan. Place onion, garlic, carrots & the whites of the green onions into the pan. Cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add shredded cauliflower & cook for 5-7 minutes until cooked through.
5. Add soy sauce, edamame, cooked eggs & the greens of the green onion.
6. Serve hot!

when i made this i paired it with my mom's signature salmon recipe. this is the simplest yet most delicious way to cook salmon at home! all you have to do is marinade the salmon in soy sauce for 20 minutes & heat your grill, oven or pan until it is pretty hot. then cook the salmon based on it's thickness {about 5 minutes on each side for an inch thick piece: look this up on google to make sure you get the cooking time right.} my preferred method to cook this salmon is on the bbq/grill because then you get a nice char on this fish which makes for amazing flavor! {keep in mind this will obviously come out with an asian flavor due to the soy sauce} 

i hope you guys give these recipes a try & are pleasantly surprised by them both!
until next time...