Basmati Rice Bowl with Spiced Cauliflower and Pomegranate (Recipe #83)

I love basmati rice and cauliflower! Putting those two things together seems like an incredible idea! This recipe for a rice bowl was a great recipe and one that I will be making again! I think the best part about this dish was the delicious rice! Everything about the rice was perfect. The directions in the recipe provide enough information to make perfectly cooked rice and perfectly seasoned rice!

This recipe was quite easy too! Basically, there were three parts--two main parts. The rice, the cauliflower, and the garnish. The garnish was just pomegranate seeds, cilantro, mint, and cilantro sauce. I have made the cilantro sauce a few times now (there is another post about it) and it seems to be a perfect dressing for bowls. The rice was a little more involved than cooking standard white rice, but the extra effort was worth it. I sauteed onion in a pan before adding the rice. I then added spices to add flavor (like turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon). While the rice was cooking, I prepared the cauliflower. The cauliflower had to be baked with oil, salt, pepper, and cumin. The rice and the cauliflower came out smelling delicious!

I divided the rice and cauliflower between four containers (two bowls and two containers for lunch the next day). For the two servings that Jacob and I were eating right away, I topped them with the garnishes. I left the remaining garnishes on the side because I knew I would want the bowl heated up, but not the cilantro sauce or the pomegranate seeds. This worked out really well to have a delicious dinner and an already prepared lunch.

The meal itself was incredible! I cannot get over how the rice turned out. The rice was so flavorful! Everything else in the dish came together nicely and the combination worked really well! I loved the pop of flavor with the pomegranate seeds, but I thought that the texture was a bit of a disruption among the other textures. I think the next time I make this that I would leave the seeds on the side of the bowl. I would also use this recipe for rice with other toppings. I could see pairing this with a curry or other Indian inspired meals! I highly recommend this recipe from the Vegan for Everybody Cookbook!

Taste: 10/10!! The rice was amazing!

Level of difficulty: 1/5

Notes for next time: I would keep the pomegranate seeds on the side. I liked the texture of everything in the bowl without the pomegranate better.