Paleo perfection: chicken curry with cauliflower rice

This paleo stuff isn’t for the weak-willed. Carb cravings sneak up on you when you least expect them. To survive, you need some serious substitutes—dishes that make you forget the fact that bagels, cheese, candy, crackers and every other guilty pleasure you can imagine are no where in your near future.

For me, one of those dishes is this paleo curry.

I was highly skeptical of the “rice.” Dave, true to form, was skeptical I could get him to like cauliflower. Lucky for both of us, this carb-substitute came through in the clutch.

If you are going grain-free, paleo, gluten-free, or any other variation of this carb-free torture, this will be your saving grace when your worst hankerings kick in.

Note: I used bone-in chicken breast, and I’m convinced it adds flavor and depth to the dish. The only problem is, the meat gets so tender in the crockpot, the breasts virtually disintegrate, which means you’ll have to comb through with a fork and pick out the bones. If the prospect of accidentally feeding your family/eating partners a neglected chicken bone makes you nervous, go with boneless breasts. I was willing to take the risk—and subject Dave to a potential unpleasant surprise—in the name of taste. Fortunately, I managed to find and remove all of the bones.

Paleo curry with cauliflower rice

You’ll need:

2 bone-in chicken breasts (see my note above about the bones)

2 carrots, diced

1 cup mushrooms

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2/3 cup curry powder

2 cans coconut milk

1 cup chicken stock

1 head cauliflower

This dish is pretty chicken heavy—if you prefer more veggies, I would use only one breast and double, or even triple the veggies. It will seem like a lot, but they shrink considerably during cooking.

First, brown the chicken breasts in olive oil over medium high. Place in crock pot with cut veggies, minus the cauliflower.

Mix curry powder, coconut milk and stock until blended and pour over chicken and veggies. Cook on low, covered, for 8 hours.

For the cauliflower rice, process the cauliflower with a grater, blender or food processor. You want the cauliflower bits to be about the size of grains of rice. Steam in the microwave (no added liquid—the moisture in the vegetable will do the work), in a covered dish, until tender, stirring every few minutes. It took mine about 10 minutes total.

Serve curry over hot rice.