{Whole30} Cajun Chicken and Cauliflower Rice
Chicken and cauliflower rice flavored with cajun seasoning and roasted to perfection. This is one of the healthy meals I truly enjoyed during my Whole30 adventure.
The adult human body is 50-65% water. My brother told me mine is composed of 80% green tea. I consume a lot of green tea. Let’s say an average of 1-1.5 liters everyday. Then, water. Don’t ask me – I just love the comfort I get from drinking green tea. Need something to go with a slice of cake? Green tea. Need something to drink while watching TV? I could use a cup or two. When calculating my expenses? I’ll get the whole kettle, please! I am not sure if the word is comforting or addicting.
If my body is composed of 80% green tea, maybe the 15% is for cajun seasoning (let’s call it CS). I have never met CS before. Or if did, I didn’t know about it. When we met, it was love at first taste. It was like the goddess Aphrodite made me fall in love with CS instantly. I wanted to eat something with CS every single day. But most days, I end up with roasted potatoes. If I should describe it in one word, I would say ‘addictive‘. But I can’t eat anything cajun roasted without my harissa-tahini sauce. They are just so perfect together that they can even marry each other!
Sad to say, bottled tahini can be a bit pricey. I might break the bank when I continue with the CS and tahini marriage. So I had to give CS and tahini some space. CS has to stay, and tahini needs to leave… for now. I have to pair CS with CF (cauliflower).
I have been eating cauliflower rice for a while now, so I’ve thought of roasting CF with CS and chicken. But instead of frying the riced cauli, I roasted them together with the chicken.
The dish turned out really good – the cauli rice was so tasty given the fact the I have coated them with cajun seasoning, olive oil, ghee and garlic. The juices of the chicken also added good flavor to the cauli rice. The cauli rice and chicken were roasted to perfection.
This can be done in separate baking pans, but I have only one oven rack so I fit them in one pan (pictured above). When the cauli rice was cooked, I removed the chicken, transferred to a plate and polished off the cauli rice and moved to a serving plate. Then I returned back the chicken to the pan and again placed back into the oven to cook thoroughly.
This is one of the perfect meals I enjoyed while on the Whole30 adventure.
I am bringing these at Fiesta Friday #191. Thanks to our Angie and to our co-hosts this week, Aunt Juju and Antonia.
Whole30 Cajun Chicken and Cauliflower Rice
- Difficulty: easy
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp Cajun seasoning
- 3 cups riced cauliflower (about 4 cups florets)
- 4 chicken pieces (preferably chicken thighs and drumsticks)
- Parsley, for garnish
Instructions:
Prep tip: Riced cauliflower and chicken can be marinated (placed in a baking pan) overnight inside the fridge with me rest of the ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- In a small bowl, combine olive oil, ghee, garlic and Cajun seasoning.
- In a baking pan, add in riced cauliflower. Pour in half of the oil Cajun-oil mixture and give it a good mix.
- Rub the other half of the oil mixture all over the chicken, adding a good pinch of salt on each chicken pieces.
- Place the chicken over the riced cauliflower.
- Bake the cauliflower rice for 25-30 minutes. After that, remove the chicken from the pan. Transfer the cooked cauliflower rice to a plate and put back the chicken pieces to the pan. Return back inside the oven and bake for further 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the oven. Place the cauliflower rice (season with salt, if necessary) on a serving plate, top with chicken. Garnish with parsley if desired.
Notes:
Chicken and cauliflower can be placed in separate baking pans, making it easier to remove the cooked cauliflower rice. It mixed them in one baking pan so the cauliflower rice will get the juice from the chicken.
You can make a large batch and keep some in the fridge up to two days for your next meal. Keeping them in the freezer will make them last longer.
I made only a small batch and kept the half of the dish and enjoyed after 2 days.
24 Comments
Carrie
This looks delicious! I just made my first cauliflower rice dish recently and loved it! I’m going to have to try this one!
Jhuls
I am having cauliflower rice almost everyday. I make them ahead and heat when needed. Glad you liked this one. Thanks, Carrie!
Corina
The chicken sounds so tasty here and I love the way the chicken is baked on top of the cauliflower rice so all those delicious flavours from the chicken get into the cauliflower too! Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!
Jhuls
Thanks, Corina. I am glad you liked the idea.
Monika
Thank you for bringing your lovely recipe to #CookBlogShare!
Jhuls
Thanks, Monika!
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food
Your cajun chicken and cauliflower rice looks so beautiful and healthy! I think I’m composed of at least 50% jerk sauce, so any dish that rocks the Cajun or Jamaican flavors is right up my alley. And I am all about that cauliflower rice! YUM.
Jhuls
50% jerk sauce sounds lovely, too.😁 Thanks for being here and have a great weekend!
HELEN
I love cauliflower rice, and this looks amazing. I will definitely give it a go.
I couldn’t stand green tea when I first tried it, but it has definitely grown on me, and I agree with you, it goes with everything!
Jhuls
Green tea is comforting to me, I guess. This dish, on the other hand, is really good! Well, I am speaking from my experience, of course!☺️ I hope you’ll love it as much as I did! Thanks, Helen.😘
Jess
I’m really enjoying these Whole 30 recipes you’re sharing Jhuls. Looks like another winner 😀
Jhuls
Am I inspiring you yet?😂 Thank you, Jess. Glad you liked this one.😘
Jess
Eh….I’m with you in spirit lol 😀
Jhuls
That would work😂
cookingwithauntjuju.com
I love spicy seasonings – the heat and the fact I don’t have to use salt. Funny, I make cauliflower rice too and yesterday while shopping at Whole Foods they were selling cauliflower crumbles in a bag. Takes the fun out of making it, doesn’t it Jhuls? Happy Fiesta Friday and enjoy your weekend 🙂
Jhuls
Oh wow! How fun! Thanks for co-hosting and for stopping by, Aunt Juju. Enjoy your weekend!😘
Monika
This dish is indeed super healthy and no doubt super delicious, and I love the fact there are so few ingredients in it:) Happy FF! I am also a huge green tea fan though I only drink it until about 3pm and then I switch to rooibos and mint. Which probably means that I am also 80% tea:)
Jhuls
I try to drink different kinds of tea in a day – lemon and ginger, earl grey, more green tea and chamomile in the evening. Thanks, Monika – I am pleased that you loved the dish. Have a great weekend.😘
Antonia
I am completely with you, Cajun spice is the best! Your chicken is beautiful and I love how you roasted the cauliflower rice with it. Happy Fiesta Friday and thank you for sharing this flavorful dish with us!
Jhuls
I am totally inlove with cajun seasoning! I am now afraid to try store-bought one.😬 Thanks, Antonia. It’s always fun to be at Fiesta Friday party.
Blogtastic Food
Still haven’t made cauliflower rice….but this looks awesome. And cajun chicken is always a winner (:
Jhuls
Cauliflower rice is now a part of my weekend routine. I make sure to make a huge batch so I could keep the rest in the fridge. Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely weekend.
Laura @ Feast Wisely
Good on you for drinking so much green tea – I thought I had a good habit at two cups per day – it’s such an anti oxidant and anti inflammatory – you’ll easily be reaching the big 100 😃
Jhuls
Most people tell me me that I need to consume maximum 3 cups a day, but there’s something comforting about green tea. Thanks, Laura. Have a lovely weekend!😘