These Mexican Cauliflower Rice Bowls came about from a taco night we had recently. My kids tacos consist of the shell and cheese so I quickly took taco night off our dinner menu for awhile. We slowly fell into the winter routine of the usual chicken nugget, Mac n Cheese and pizza with the television on kind of dinners. Then one Sunday I had my mom and sister over for dinner and my children couldn’t sit still to actually eat. They acted like I had just fed them a cup of sugar! I couldn’t believe it, yup I had no one to blame buy myself. The next day we reinstated family dinners together which meant menu planning was not going to be fun again. I keep reminding myself that that I didn’t have the palate that I have now when I was my kids ages. Being on (and sometimes off) the 21 Day Fix program I’m constantly trying to come up with meals that my kids will eat but are on my diet plan as well. Cauliflower rice has been my saving grace lately. It can be pretty boring though so to me it matters what you put on top for most of the flavor. Enter Taco Tuesday again. I love making taco meat and putting out all of the usual toppings that most people would put on their tacos. Sour cream, shredded cheese, fresh tomatoes, guacamole, salsa etc etc. Only my kids don’t eat any of the usual toppings or taco meat, no matter how I make the meat.
Then I became a genius. The only meat my kids seem to like is turkey hotdogs, chicken patties or chicken nuggets. I popped two chicken patties in our air fryer, cut it up and wala they started building their tacos. My daughter likes the taco boats and my son likes the hard taco shells and I usually serve it with applesauce or cucumber slices and carrot sticks (my kids will eat veggies they just don’t like them cooked!) I usually put my taco meat on top of a salad and make a homemade dressing using fat free greek yogurt and a little bit of the taco seasoning from the taco meat, add a splash of milk and that is my taco Tuesday! Come our third week I wanted to try and see if the kids would eat rice with beans so I went on a search for a Mexican cauliflower rice. I found the base of the rice bowls but I knew I wanted to add chicken to my dish to make it my meal for taco night!
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 bag of frozen cauliflower rice
2 cups of cooked chicken (shredded, diced, or even make use steak!)
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 jalapeno’s
1 small onion, diced
2 plum tomatoes, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. of paprika
1 tbsp of cilantro
1 pkg. of taco seasoning
Directions:
In a small bowl mix the chicken and taco seasoning together making sure all the pieces are seasoned. You won’t use the whole packet but save what is left.
In a large frying pan heat oil and add the onion saute for two minutes. Add garlic and saute for another few minutes. Add the diced peppers and jalapeno’s and saute for a few minutes. Season with cumin, paprika and cilantro mixing to combine. Saute for a few more minutes.
Meanwhile, microwave the cauliflower for four minutes. Set aside. Microwave the chicken for a few minutes. Add the cauliflower to the frying pan and mix to combine. Add a little olive oil and sprinkle the rest of the taco packet and mix to combine.
Spoon about a cup of the rice into a bowl, top with 1/4-2/3 cup of chicken. Add toppings such as sour cream, shredded cheese or guacamole!
