Roasted Jamaican Jerk and Lime-Infused Cauliflower is paired with creamy and fluffy coconut rice and grilled corn for a delicious, healthy plant-based meal. The cauliflower is roasted to tender perfection and bursting with spicy and citrus flavor!
We don't really do cauliflower in my home for 2 reasons. One, my husband can't have it because it is a huge gout trigger and second, I've never liked it. I've found it to taste really nasty in most cases. I've discovered it needs to be masked well with flavor, and when it is, it can be fantastic. I finally LOVE it, thanks to this new recipe! I mean, talk about a flavor explosion! I'm absolutely in love with this roasted Jamaican Jerk Lime Cauliflower.
This cauliflower has so much incredible flavor and it's spicy, but not too spicy, deeply flavored and beautifully complimented with fresh lime juice to help those spices along. So so yummy I just gasped after the first bite.
When this cauliflower was cooking, I was completely intoxicated by the aromas coming from my oven. Omg. So heavenly were the smells from all the Jamaican spices.
I decided to serve it on a bed of creamy coconut brown rice and a side of grilled sweet corn. That way you get a creamy element, a spicy touch and a sweet compliment to it all. So much yum in 1 bowl! Oil-free and healthy to boot!
HOW TO MAKE JAMAICAN JERK CAULIFLOWER RICE BOWL
First, let's make the rice by adding brown long grain rice, coconut milk, lime juice and salt to a pot and cook until fluffy.
While the rice is cooking, make the roasted oil-free Jamaican Cauliflower. Mix the Jamaican jerk seasoning, lime juice, coconut sugar and salt in a bowl.
Coat the cauliflower well. I find a large ziplock bag works best.
Spread the cauliflower out onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake until golden, tender perfection.
When the cauliflower is near the end of roasting, add your corn to a grill pan and cook until it becomes nice and toasty and make sure to stir it often.
Assemble into bowls and enjoy!
The cauliflower is bursting with flavor and is tender, juicy, spicy and downright delicious!
And the rice, oh yeah, delicious. My daughter, who claims to hate brown rice, devoured it and said it was "so yummy!" She really liked the creaminess that comes from the coconut milk and the hint of lime.
Other healthy vegan bowls to try:
Roasted Jamaican Lime Cauliflower and Coconut Rice
Ingredients
For the Rice
- 1 1/2 cups 270g long-grain uncooked brown jasmine rice
- 1 1/4 cups 300g canned "lite" coconut milk, separately, shaken well first
- 1 tablespoon 15g fresh lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon 3g fine salt
For the Cauliflower
- 1 lb 16 oz or 454g cauliflower florets (I used frozen)
- 2 tablespoons 30g fresh lime juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons 12g Jamaican Jerk Seasoning (salt-free), this can be found at almost any grocery store in the spice isle
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon 3g fine salt
- 2 cups cooked sweet corn I use frozen
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 415F degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Rinse the rice well under cold water, this helps to yield fluffy rice. Add the rice, ONLY 1 cup of the coconut milk, 1 1/4 cups of water (300g), 1 tablespoon lime juice and salt and stir well. Bring to a boil over high heat and once boiling, stir once more and cover with a lid and turn down to the lowest heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes until all the water is evaporated. Remove from the heat and keep covered for 10 minutes only. This will steam the rice to finish cooking and yield the perfect fluffy rice. Don't steam it longer than 10 minutes.
- After the 10 minutes, add the remaining 1/4 cup coconut milk, fluffing it with the fork while incorporating the milk. This will add an extra layer of creaminess and flavor but still keep the rice fluffy.
- While the rice is cooking, prepare the cauliflower. Add the 2 tablespoons lime juice, Jamaican jerk seasoning, coconut sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a small bowl and stir well until mixed.
- Add the cauliflower florets to a large ziplock bag with the Jamaican jerk lime seasoning and shake the bag and push the florets around from the outside of the bag to make sure each floret gets coated evenly with the seasoning. I find this method works much better to coat the florets than trying to do it in a bowl.
- Spread the cauliflower out evenly on the lined pan. Bake for 20 minutes until tender and cooked through. Turn the broiler on and broil for 3-5 minutes for final browning and texture. Watch closely so they don't burn.
- While the cauliflower is cooking, add the corn to a grill pan and cook over medium-high heat and stir often until the corn is evenly browned on all sides.
- To serve, add desired amount of rice, cauliflower and corn to bowls and serve. Garnish with extra lime juice and cilantro if desired.
This looks delicious! Could I add black beans and cook it with the rice?
Hi! Yes you could definitely add beans to the dish but definitely cook them separately on their own. Don’t cook them in the same pot with the rice or that’ll affect the rice cooking properly, as the rice uses all the liquid to properly cook up. Let me know how you like it!
Island people often cook their rice and beans together and have not had a problem with the rice cooking.
I don’t know anything about island cooking, I just know that I like my rice cooked separately and solely so it soaks up all the moisture and become really moist and fluffy since I use a specific amount of water designed solely for the rice. I don’t find it works well adding in other ingredients, unless when I’m cooking a large pot like a stew or something, which even then, I don’t add beans til the end, but that’s totally different anyways than this specific recipe for coconut rice I shared above (no beans).
Did you defrost the frozen cauliflower beforehand, or is it coated and placed in the oven while still frozen?
Hi Mary, just used it frozen straight from the freezer, no thawing!
Did you defrost the frozen cauliflower beforehand, or is it coated and placed in the oven while still frozen?
Wow this is making my mouth water. That looks so healthy and looks freakin delicious. My absolute favorite combo, healthy and delicious hahaha. It is so hard to see your posts right now because I am raw and I am going to be raw till early September. And if an issue I was having appears again after starting to eat cooked food again in September, I might have to go raw again for a few months to get the issue to go away and then reintroduce foods slowly to see what it is causing the issue because it was a serious issue that only cleared up when eating raw. So that is why I am raw at the moment. Hahaha not that you needed to know that. But it is so funny you don’t like cauliflower because I absolutely love it. I think it is one of my favorite vegetables and I can eat it plain just steamed or even raw and I love it. But this way looks freaking next level amazing. Once I am eating cooked stuff again this is definitely on my list plus of course all the fabulous recipes I am waiting on when you book comes out 😀 Depending on how things go though I might basically be raw up till november. We shall see. I really hope the issue resolves itself. It is surprising that cauliflower could be something that would be a trigger for your husbands gout. But yeah if it is it is definitely a good thing that he avoids it. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I miss your recipes so much. But I will have them soon enough, time flies.
You hating cauliflower, the internet’s most beloved veggie. Olivia hating good ol’ brown rice. Your house clearly NEEDED this recipe bad ha. Well I love both so I love the sound of these bowls. Well maybe tone down the jerk seasoning to like 1 teaspoon lol, and then I am so there. I love all the lime juice throughout, even I can appreciate the brightness of citrus next to spice. And that coconut milk situation sounds like the best thing that has happened to brown rice in a while. I totally agree that oven roasting is the best way to do cauliflower, on the stovetop it just turns so mushy. I’ve never tried broiling it at the end though, but the thought of the outsides getting all extra crispy sounds delicious. And I could just eat an entire bowl of that corn by itself…oh how I love corn and even better when grilled. This sounds like such a good summertime meal 🙂
Hahaha! Your comment cracked me up. Yes, the broiling at the end just adds some extra yummy browning and texture, yummm! The corn was a last minute addition decision that I thought would be a great compliment to the spicy and creamy coconut stuff going on in the bowl and it sure was! I really enjoyed every bite. Thank you so much Natalie!
I love me some roasted cauliflower!! I just made my crispy cauliflower nuggets last night, the kids love them. I like to switch up the flavors (I have a few in my book that I base it off of) so I’ll have to throw in some jerk seasoning next time. Looks delicious! And I LOVE cilantro, coconut and lime in my rice!
It was so good! And the first time I’ve ever truly liked cauliflower…other than pureed in soup. I had seen the seasoning at the store and thought how tasty that might be to pair with cauliflower and give it another shot. I was shocked at how darn yummy it turned out!
I loved the combo of cauliflower, coconut rice, and roasted corn! Spice combo was just on the edge of too hot… a great place to be! I didn’t prefer the coconut milk (oil) so made the rice with 1/3 c coconut and a drop of coconut flavoring. Thanks for the inspiration!
So glad you loved it Karen! Yes, you described it perfectly and just how I like spicy levels to be…and having creamy coconut rice and the lime juice prevents the spicy from being too much. Oh, since you cut way down on the coconut milk, that would make the rice more salty because the coconut cream really soaks in and enriches the flavor making the salt more mild so since you want to do less coconut, just do 1/4 teaspoon salt next time. Thanks for the review!
ps…the rice was too salty for me so dropped that!
I’ve never had Jamaican jerk seasoning before, but now I need to go find some!! This looks and sounds incredible! All the flavors and I’m a huge fan of coconut + lime so this needs to happen very soon. I love cauliflower, especially when it’s coated with good seasoning! I feel bad though because I can’t have rice or corn…so my bowl will look a bit different! Ha! I might try using some quinoa, but I’ll make it as is for Josh. I had to laugh when I read about Olivia and brown rice! Willow isn’t usually a fan of brown rice (prefers white) so maybe this is the way to win her over! I’ll definitely make this when we get back from our trip!! Hope all is well with you, sweet friend! xo
Holy Hannah!!! That was deeelish!!
Yay! So glad you loved it Marion! Thank you for the review!
I just made this and it was INCREDIBLE!! I loved the lime with the jerk seasoning and the rice turned out perfect. Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes. I can’t wait until your cookbook comes out!
I’m so happy to hear that Laura! Thank you so much for making it and leaving this amazing feedback!
I made this for my family last night, and boy was it a hit. I had prepared the spice the night before since our grocery store had discontinued it, which worked out for the better. I was able to leave the salt out. The spicy cauliflower was a great combination against the sweetness of the rice. I assure you that my 6 year old ate his weight in rice and corn. My 7 year old found his love for limes. What really blew me away, my normally unimpressed husband asked that we keep this recipe in the dinner loop! Thank you so much for this recipe, and making dinners a little easier for this working mom. I’m excited to try more of your recipes!
So very happy to hear how much your family loved this dish, thank you so much Alyssa for the amazing review!
Wonderful recipe!! Thank you!! I used bagged fresh cauliflower and worked great.
Plus your Lazy Red Lentil Curry Soup was so good that we licked the pot clean.
Easy and awesome and healthy recipes!! You are wonderful!!!