Low Carb Dirty Rice for Mardi Gras

This low carb Dirty Rice is made with cauliflower, bacon, sausage, and lots of cajun flavor. It works great as a side dish or a light supper with a salad on the side. Quick and delicious!

For this recipe you’ll need: Olive oil, onion, celery, garlic, jalapeno, ground sausage, acon, smoked paprika, oregeno, cauliflower, chicken stock, salt and pepper.

It’s Mardi Gras today and, although my Mardi Gras celebrating days are far behind me, it always makes me crave some Cajun food. Like this low carb Dirty Rice.

Can’t you almost smell it? Smoky bacon, spicy sausage, zingy jalapeno, onion, and garlic all simmered together to create a combination of flavors that goes with anything. This stuff will make you happy.

It’s magic.

I live in Texas and have for most of my life. We are aware of the existence of other states, and it’s not unusual for us to take a dish and make it our own. Dirty Rice is one of those — thus the jalapeno. Now, Cajun dishes aren’t haute cuisine. They are down-to-earth, budget-friendly, and use-what-you-got kinds of things. Dirty Rice, the authentic stuff, is made with chicken livers, gizzards, and whatever else you might have left over after butchering.

I can’t do that kind of stuff. I guess I am a terrible food writer because I don’t like fish, offal, or other foods that others seem to go nuts over. The idea of them makes me gag. I could not do the real kind of Dirty Rice for anything. This has regular stuff in there — and yes I know… sausage is all kinds of icky stuff but shhhhhhhhhhh…. I am not thinking about that. Well I am trying not to.

You can even vary the meat according to what you have.

The cauliflower goes in next to last because you want it to retain some texture. I saute it in the fat from the sausage until it caramelized a bit then toss in some chicken stock to let it steam about 3 minutes. That is usually just right for me.

Give this low carb dirty rice a try and Laissez les bons temps rouler!

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Table of Contents

Low Carb Dirty Rice

Spicy and smoky, this low carb dirty rice is made with cauliflower, sausage, bacon, and lots of other good flavors.

Course Side, Side Dish

Cuisine American – low -carb, Creole

Keyword rice

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 2 side servings or 1 main dish serving

Calories 171kcal

Author Katherine Peters

Ingredients

• Olive oil as needed
• 2 tablespoons onion chopped
• 2 tablespoons celery chopped
• 2 cloves finely chopped or grated garlic
• 1 tablespoon jalapeno chopped
• 2 ounces ground sausage
• 1 slice bacon chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregeno
• 4 ounces finely chopped cauliflower about 1 3/4 cups
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

• Heat oil in a heavy skillet up until it is very hot.
• Add the onion, celery, garlic,and jalapeno and saute until the vegetables get a few brown spots of caramelization on them, about 3 minutes or so.
• Add the bacon and sausage and cook until done.
• Season with the oregano and paprika.
• Add the cauliflower and saute, stirring often, until caultiflower is crisp tender.
• Add the chicken stock all at once and cook until the liquid disappears and the steaming stops. If your pan is really hot this will only take a minute or two. Don’t overcook the cauliflower.
• Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Notes

Nutrition information is for 2 side dish size servings.

Nutrition

Calories: 171kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 321mg | Potassium: 371mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 275IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg

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