Cauliflower Fried Rice with Ham and Egg

Even though the cauliflower-in-everything craze has seemed to die down, there’s no denying it has staying power as a substitute for more carb-heavy foods. Cauliflower rice has a nice texture that mimics regular rice nicely, and has a bland enough profile that it can be seasoned in a lot of different ways. Using it in fried “rice” is one of the easiest ways to turn cauliflower rice into a main or side dish, and this simple stir-fry with ham and egg is a comforting favorite I turn to often — especially when there happens to be a lot of leftover holiday ham.

Use the same ingredients you would in a regular fried rice, but just swap out the cooked rice for uncooked cauliflower rice. Here are a few notable ingredients.

• Cauliflower rice: You can use fresh or frozen cauliflower rice, store-bought or homemade. If using frozen, do not thaw first and break up any big clumps before you take it out of the package.
• Ham: Diced, cooked ham steak is easy to cut up and cuts up into nice meaty bites.
• Eggs: Two beaten eggs get scrambled into the rice toward the end until nice and fluffy.
• Scallions: The white part of the scallions are cooked into the rice and the green parts are used at the end for a fresh garnish.
• Seasoning: Garlic, ginger, soy sauce (or tamari to keep things gluten-free), and sesame oil flavor the rice.

Fried rice cooks lickety-split in mere minutes, so make sure you prep and measure everything out before turning on the stove. Start by cooking the ham and aromatics first, then add in the cauliflower rice and cook until warmed through. Stir in frozen peas and soy sauce, then scramble the eggs in a little bit more oil in one half of the pan. Toss everything together, garnish with the scallion greens, and serve.