Five Spice Chicken — Recipes & Ramblings

This is one of those meals that are healthy and fast enough as a weeknight dinner but also decadent enough to be a weekend meal. If you find yourself with leftovers on a weekend morning, poach some eggs and put them on top of the reheated 'rice'.

The first thing I did was rinse some boneless skinless chicken thighs, pat them dry and liberally dust them with salt and a 5 spice blend. I put them right into my oil free anonized all-clad fry pan and let them sear and render their own fat. While they cooked, I riced a head of cauliflower using our Ninja blender (use any blender or food processor, or buy some pre-riced!) and started chopping my vegetables and prepping my mis en place.

Five Spice Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs (yummy, fast and versatile)

For my mis en place I diced an orange bell pepper (you can use any color, I just prefer orange), I peeled and coarsely sliced some fresh ginger (I remove it halfway when cooking), chopped scallions and a pack of cremini mushrooms. I also picked some basil leaves and cut up a fresh pineapple. Additional ingredients were a half can of lite coconut milk, gluten free soy sauce and chili paste, and curry powder.

My next step was to add about a tablespoon of chili paste to the fry pan that I cooked the chicken thighs in, some soy sauce to deglaze the brown bits and added the ginger. I let that fry up a bit and then added the peppers and half of the scallions. After a few minutes I added the mushrooms and let those cook for a few minutes more. Then I removed the ginger and in went the coconut milk, half of the basil and once that heated through, I tasted it and adjusted the salt. In went the cauliflower rice and I let that cook for about 5 minutes and added a little more soy sauce and about a tablespoon of brown sugar to it. I let this cook for about ten minutes, stirring it every now and then. After ten minutes, I stirred in my pineapple and shut the heat.

At this point, you are ready to plate! Ladle in some of the rice, spread some slices of the chicken thighs around it and add some of the fresh chopped scallions and basil. Enjoy with a crisp white wine or beer if you prefer.

Remember, when making cauliflower fried rice, there are endless combinations of proteins, produce and flavors you can use to create a fun, healthy, gluten free and low carb meal that hopefully your whole family could enjoy!