Buffalo chicken cauliflower fried rice

I've been coveting this recipe since my last Whole30, if not the one before that.  There's just something so appealing about buffalo chicken and fried rice and the fact that it's Whole30 compliant.  Honestly, I'm not sure why I never made it before, but I can honestly say that I'll definitely be making it again soon!

My hubby and I both worked a little late tonight and I was able to throw this together in a matter of minutes with the help of a store bought (Whole30 compliant!) rotisserie chicken and frozen cauliflower rice.  Since I used the frozen rice, I had to doctor up the cooking directions a little, but it's totally worth it!  And of course I had to use my signature scallion in the cauliflower rice.  This dinner was so good that after we had finished our dinner, we were both eating directly out of the serving bowl -- until I hijacked the bowl and ran into the kitchen, so that I could save the remaining 1 cup of fried cauliflower rice for lunch tomorrow!

Buffalo Chicken Cauliflower Fried Rice
From Rachl Mansfield

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp oil (I needed just over 1 T, to coat the bottom of a large frying pan)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 head cauliflower, "riced" (I used 1 bag frozen cauliflower rice)
8-10 oz chicken (I shredded 1/2 a small organic rotisserie chicken - breast and thigh meat)
2 eggs
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Buffalo sauce (I used Tessemae's, but there are others ones, too)
Handful chopped cilantro
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
(Doctored a little by me)

Preheat a skillet on medium high and add the oil.
Add onion and cook until fragrant (about 5-7 minutes).

While the onions cook, mix together the buffalo sauce and chicken in a medium bowl.
Let it sit for a bit.

Crack the eggs in a bowl and mix.
Pour the eggs into the skillet and scramble around to cook for a few minutes.

Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the frozen cauliflower rice to the pan.
Cook cauliflower rice according to package directions.
Add in scallions and let cook for another minute or two.
Season with salt and pepper.

Add the eggs, onions, and buffalo chicken to the pan.
Add more buffalo sauce if needed.
Cook for a few minutes, mixing to incorporate all the flavors.

Remove from heat, and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.
Serve.

This will last 5 days (but honestly, you'll be lucky if you have enough leftover for lunch tomorrow!)

Simplify

Whole30 isn't easy.  Even I'll admit that.  There is just SO. MUCH.  PREP!!!  So much!

Here are some suggestions for simplifying your Whole30 that I've come up with over the past 2+ Whole30s I've done.

Meal plan.  It goes without saying.  I tried so hard at the beginning of this Whole30 to map out dinners for the week.  Sadly, it's fallen a little by the wayside (Sunday night's planned dinner of chicken, sweet potato, and sauteed spinach became halibut with spinach/tomato/olive sauce and half of a sweet potato instead), but it's still good to have a plan, even if life throws you a curve ball and you can't stick to it 100%.

The oven is on.  So when you're baking a sweet potato or potato for dinner, throw in a few extra.  They're a cinch to rewarm and it takes a fraction of the time.  Sweet potato hash for breakfast tomorrow?  No prob!  Same thing goes for bacon or crispy prosciutto.  The recipe calls for 3 slices?  Make a whole bunch.  They'll go great with your eggs and sweet potato hash tomorrow morning!

Hard boiled eggs are super easy to make in bulk, too.  The waters boiling, so why not add a few extra eggs to the pot?  It doesn't even increase the cooking time to add more.  I tend to boil eggs for 3 days at a time.  While they're perfectly fine for a few more days, I prefer mine semi-fresh.

Cut veggies galore.  I should actually do this more often than I do.  I tend to have a nightly ritual of washing and cutting veggies for the next day (except last night.  I passed out after work.  Luckily I got to work today and there were baby carrots and pre-washed celery stalks in the fridge?!).  It's really a smart way to go if you prep your veggies for the week (or half the week) at a time.  It definitely cuts down on nightly prep.

Lastly, if you're a fan of cauliflower rice, buy it premade.  I love my food processor but I am not taking that bad boy out of the bottom cabinet just to turn a head of cauliflower into "rice."  I buy the bagged fresh stuff, but I know Trader Joe's also caries a frozen variety (my friend told me she's found it in the regular grocery store freezer aisle, but I'm not sure if it's Whole30 approved or not).

There you have it.  Some Whole30 hacks I've come up with to simplify my Whole30 life!

Whole30 Cobb Salad

Sometimes it's not about reinventing the wheel, but rather taking a pre-Whole30 food and making it Whole30 compliant.  Case in point?  The Cobb salad we had for dinner last night.  With just a few tweaks, it becomes Whole30 quite quickly.  Skip the blue cheese and blue cheese dressing, swapping in a creamy Whole30 acceptable dressing (I used Tessemae's creamy ranch dressing, but their creamy Caesar would be a good option, too; or you could -- heaven forbid -- make your own).  Make sure your bacon or turkey bacon is Whole30 compliant.  If you don't roast your own turkey (or chicken), make sure it's compliant, too.  Then?  Eat.  That's all you have left to do!

You could just make bowls of Cobb salad and serve them prepared, or you could do what I did and make a platter of the toppings and serve it next to a big bowl of lettuce like I did.  Definitely a pretty presentation, if I do say so myself.  The only barrier you might run into is that you're non-Whole30 husband eats all the toppings and skips the lettuce entirely!

Whole30 Cobb Salad

Ingredients:

3-4 slices Whole30 compliant bacon or turkey bacon
1 avocado, sliced or cubed
3/4-1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Cooked chicken or Turkey breast, cubed or sliced
2-3 hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters
Lettuce of your choice
Whole30 complaint ranch or Caesar dressing, or homemade if you prefer

Directions:

Cook bacon to your liking.  I like mine crispy, and cooked it in the oven on a rack placed on a baking tray.

While the bacon is cooking, wash and cut the remaining ingredients.

If serving "make your own" style like I did, place ingredients in stripes to make a pretty platter.  Serve with a bowl of lettuce, and dressing on the side.

If serving as a giant tossed salad, place ingredients on top of lettuce in piles.  Dress and toss at the table for a pretty presentation.

Avocado "Deviled" Eggs

I, unfortunately, will pretty much eat anything.  There are very few things I don't like (cumin, gin, fennel, mayo, ketchup, to name a few), among them are egg yolks.  They're OK in a scrambled egg occasionally, but I order all my omelettes with egg whites.

So on Whole30, I eat only egg whites, unless my husband makes scrambled eggs on the weekend (he's so great to me and will make them in olive oil instead of butter while I'm Whole30-ing).  Hard boiled eggs is usually a breakfast go-to (I'm working on changing that...), and I usually eat them with avocado, so the other day I mashed up my avocado with a little bit of salt and put it into halved egg whites for a "deviled" egg look.  It was delicious!  So much so that I had it for breakfast again today!  It's super easy (3 ingredients!) and tasty. I'm sure that -- if you like egg yolks -- it would be really good if you mixed the yolks in with the avocado, but you'd have to try that for yourself!  If you do, send me a message or leave a comment below!

Whole30 "Deviled" Eggs

Ingredients:

3 hardboiled eggs, halved lengthwise, yolks removed and discarded (unless you want to use them and mix with the avocado)
1/2 avocado*
pinch of salt, to taste.

Optional:
Feel free to season these as you like.  I used some Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoning last time and they were delicious!  Red pepper flakes would be delicious, too.  And of course a little black pepper would be tasty, too.

* For my recipe, I used half of a teeny tiny avocado -- have you seen them?  They're the cutest! -- so my eggs aren't completely filled.  I recommend using 1/2 of a regular Haas avocado or 3/4 of a teeny tiny one.

Directions:

Mash the avocado in a bowl.  Add salt (and additional spices, if using) to taste, and incorporate.

Spoon into halved egg whites.

Serve with vegetables or a salad.