This vegan Cauliflower wild rice pilaf with puy lentils is an explosion of flavors, textures, and healthfulness. The nutty wild rice is the perfect foil for the creamy lentils and crispy cauliflower florets. My Cauliflower Wild Rice Pilaf is a healthy and delicious one-pot meal that is quick enough to cook up for family on a weekday night and elegant enough to serve company. It also makes a great brown bag lunch.

In Indian cooking, a pilaf or pulao is a rather spare rice dish seasoned with a few spices. It's different -- and less fussy -- than other rice dishes like a biryani, say, where the spices are richer and where the ingredients are separately cooked and then put together. Since I don't do fussy on weeknights, this worked just perfectly for me.

All I needed to do was to chop up some onions and garlic and separate the cauliflower into florets, and the dish pretty much cooked itself. Although pilafs are usually cooked up in one go-- meaning that you would add all the ingredients to one pot and cook them together -- I did roast the cauliflower separately because if I added the cauliflower to the same pot, it would end up all mushy and not firm and golden and delicious.

Wild rice is very easily found now, but in case you cannot find it you can try this dish with brown rice as well, or even another grain like quinoa. Be sure to adjust the cook times, because these grains will require less time to cook than the black rice does. Brown rice would need about 45 minutes, no more.

I know this is a rather matter-of-fact post but it's early Sunday morning and honestly, do you really want me to be sitting at the computer when I could be sleeping in? 🙂

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Looking for more vegan rice recipes?

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Cauliflower Wild Rice Pilaf Recipe

Vegan | Gluten-free | Soy-free | Nut-free