Low Carb and Easy: Bacon Fried Rice

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Today for dinner I had a really delicious and EASY meal that took less than 15 minutes to make and is super healthy and low in carbs: Bacon Fried Rice. I have always been a fan of fried rice, but on a low carb diet, rice is off limits... unless it's cauliflower "rice"! Most low carbers already know that you can use a cheese grater or a food processor to make low carb "rice" by shredding a head of raw cauliflower into tiny, rice-like bits. Then you can steam or microwave them until soft and use in place of rice in your favorite recipes. This can save you a lot of carbs, since a cup of real cooked rice contains about 40 grams of carbs while a cup of cauliflower "rice" only contains 5 grams. So when I came across this already-riced, steam-in-the-bag shortcut cauliflower rice medley, I knew it was destined for a fried rice dish,

It contains cauliflower, yellow onion, peas, carrots, and green onions, No seasonings and no fat. I used this as the basis of my bacon fried rice, but you can use any riced cauliflower you like (and add your own choice of other vegetables if desired).

I adapted the recipe from here: Bacon Fried Rice.

2 strips of bacon, cooked until crisp, with most of the fat drained
1/2 bag of Cauliflower Medley Riced Veggies (or 2 cups of cauliflower rice), cooked
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
garlic powder and black pepper

To have dinner in under 15 minutes, just get the bacon started cooking and microwave the cauliflower rice as directed on the package or steam until soft. Drain most of the bacon fat and set the bacon aside. Toss the "rice" into the hot pan and stir it around to brown it a little and evaporate any extra moisture. Turn the heat down, push the "rice" aside and scramble the beaten egg in the other side of the pan. Then stir it all together and add the soy sauce and crumbled bacon. Season to taste with garlic and pepper.

This entire recipe has 200 calories, 10 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 11 g fat, and 16 g protein. What a great meal! I'll definitely be making this again with lots of variations:

adding cubed cooked chicken breast, diced cooked lean pork, or diced ham instead of bacon
adding thinly sliced cabbage sauteed in a bit of the bacon fat
using plain cauliflower "rice" and saving carbs by leaving out the peas and carrots, or adding your own peas, carrots, snow peas, water chestnuts, or whatever veggies sound good to you
adding more seasonings such as ginger, onion powder, and toasted sesame oil

The pre-made "Medley" rice is very easy and tasty, but I couldn't taste the green onions in it. Next time I'll add sliced fresh green and yellow onions to the bacon fat and add them to the dish.

I think I will use the leftover "Medley" rice to make another fried rice dish with eggs, ham, and veggies this weekend.  Hope you enjoy this simple, delicious, lower carb meal as much as I did!