I’m a big fan of meal-in-a-bowl recipes, and while this one doesn’t have to be in a bowl, it’s quite easy to serve and eat as a whole given that the flavors and textures compliment one another. Bowl recipes also pack well as traveling meals and leftovers.
The chili lime cauliflower rice has a “dirty spice” flavoring that complements the seasoning on the blackened salmon, and the lime complements both the fish and the chili seasoning. If you’re interested in discovering flavor affinities to build recipes, I suggest checking out The Flavor Bible.
You can substitute parts of this recipe depending on what you have around or what you favor. For example, you can use blackened chicken instead of salmon, or roasted broccoli instead of asparagus, or fajita-style onions and peppers could be slipped in this mix as well.
Another tip: you can prepare the rice and asparagus ahead of time and store in the refrigerator for a day or so. When you’re ready to make the bowl, blacken the salmon and then briefly warm up the asparagus and rice in a warm skillet.
Blackened Salmon
Recipe is here.
Chili Lime Cauliflower Rice
I like using a combination of chili powders, such as chipotle and ancho, but use any you have on hand. The chipotle is not as spicy-hot as cayenne pepper so I reduced it, but feel free adjust the spices to your desired heat and flavoring.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 (200 g) yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 (1 kg) small cauliflower heads, cut into pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder (or 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper plus more chili powder)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground tumeric
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
Method
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, onions and salt.
- Sauté the onions for 5 minutes or until they begin to brown a bit and become translucent.
- Place the cauliflower in a food processor and pulse until it resembles rice grains. If you don’t have a food processor, you can rice the cauliflower using the large holes of a food grater.
- Add the cauliflower rice to the skillet along with the chili powder, chipotle and more salt, and optionally, pepper.
- Cook the rice, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until it is slightly tender (not mushy).
- Serve warm with sliced lime.
Serves 4
Roasted Asparagus
To trim the bottoms of the asparagus: hold a few stalks in two hands and break the bottoms off where they have the least resistance. This will separate the woody bottoms of the stalks and you’re left with the tender part of each asparagus stalk.
Ingredients
- one bunch of asparagus (about 350 g or 3/4 pound), trimmed of the woody ends (see headnotes)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons high heat oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt or truffle salt
Method
- Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C, or gas mark 7).
- Prepare a baking sheet with a non-stick baking mat or parchment paper.
- Coat the asparagus with oil and sprinkle salt over them.
- Place the asparagus on the baking sheet and roast for about 10 minutes or until they are browned and but not too soft or floppy.
Serves 4 as a side dish
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