For the love of poke.
Poke bowls are another food that seem to be popping up all over the place. I believe Boston alone has quite a few spots that you can get poke bowls, and they’re delicious. But for those of you who don’t know about poke bowls, they’re basically a sushi bowl with raw fish, some toppings of your choice, topped on to some rice or a salad.
With rice being too full of carbs (I’m trying to eat less), I decided to make a different version of my favorite poke bowl. That version is this Salmon Poke Bowl with Cauliflower Rice. Yes…cauliflower rice, my new favorite thing in this difficult world of eating low-carb.
For those of you who haven’t tried cauliflower rice, it is a great substitute for basically anything that involves rice. For this recipe, I tried to make this cauliflower rice resemble sushi rice. No, you won’t get that sticky texture with cauliflower rice the same way you get with the sushi rice. But, with wanting to eat low-carb, I have to make exceptions. So to make this cauliflower rice resemble sushi rice, I did add some rice vinegar but opted not to add sugar because I wanted it to remain healthier.
What truly makes this poke bowl is the salmon. The salmon is so delicious, smothered in soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and topped with some sesame seeds and red pepper flakes. It’s sooooo good.
I like to use sushi grade fish to make my poke bowls. I really like the selection at Wegman’s grocery store or Whole Foods. Another option would be to go to a local fish market and see if they have any sushi grade fish to make poke. Make sure the fish is fresh because you are not cooking it and need to make sure it is good quality and from a good source.
Once you have finished preparing your cauliflower rice and salmon, you can add the toppings to make your poke bowl. The toppings on your bowl can be anything that you like. I will never have a poke bowl without avocado because to me that is pretty much a poke bowl sin. But, the great thing is that you can make the poke bowl how you like it!
Besides the avocado, my favorite topping was the quick pickled cucumber slices. They’re sooo tasty! I still have a jar in my fridge right now that I keep snacking on throughout the day. And they are basically effortless. You just have to slice them in thin rounds, preferably with a mandoline slicer , and then place them in rice vinegar with some shallots and red pepper flakes. The tangy flavors of these quick pickled cucumber slices balances out the rest of the ingredients in this bowl rather nicely.
So go ahead, make yourself a low-carb, healthy, super tasty Salmon Poke Bowl with Cauliflower Rice.
Cauliflower Rice Salmon Poke Bowl
Ingredients
Salmon Poke
- 1 pound Salmon sushi grade
- 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Rice Wine Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
Quick Pickle Cucumbers
- 1 Medium Cucumber
- 1 Shallot chopped
- 2/3 cup Rice Vinegar or enough to mostly cover the cucumbers
- 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
Cauliflower Rice
- 1 Medium Head Cauliflower
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar
Poke Bowl
- Salmon Poke
- Cauliflower Rice
- Pickled Cucumbers
- 1 cup Edamame beans cooked
- 3 Tablespoons Scallions chopped
- Sesame Seeds to taste
Instructions
Salmon Poke
- Cut the salmon into bite sized pieces
- Toss salmon in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients
- Cover and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes or more
- After its done marinating, take out and add to the poke bowl
Quick Pickle Cucumber
- Using a mandoline slicer or a knife, slice the cucumber into small thin rounds
- Chop the shallot into small thin rounds
- Place the cucumber and shallot slices into a jar
- Cover with rice vinegar and red pepper flakes
- Cover and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes or more
- After at least 30 minutes, take cucumbers out of the fridge and top onto poke bowl
Cauliflower Rice
- Chop the cauliflower head into florets and place into a food processor
- Pulse the food processor until the florets become into small rice-sized granules
- Heat a medium sized frying pan on medium heat
- Place the olive oil in the pan
- Once the pan is hot, add the cauliflower rice and cook until the rice is tender
- When it is cooked, take cauliflower rice off the heat and allow to cool
- Add salt and rice vinegar and place in a bowl
- Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator until the rice is cool
Poke bowl
- Add the salmon, cauliflower rice, pickled cucumbers, edamame, scallions, and sesame seeds to a bowl
- Serve and enjoy!
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