I recently started working at Provision Kitchen, which I am loving for a host of many reasons. I won’t go in to how wonderful the restaurant itself is and what our philosophy is at Provision Kitchen (click on the link to learn more about the beautiful establishment), but I will talk about a few things I’ve learned there so far:

1. More people love brussels sprouts than I ever realized. I love them too, but I always thought they were a more polarizing food.
2. Same goes for mushrooms.
3. There are so many ways to repurpose kitchen scraps–vegetable stock, for example.
4. Wrist strength is a real thing that you can build.
5. Segmenting an orange is tedious and delicate, but kind of fun.
6. Elevating the base on which you build your entrée can elevate your entire dish.

Let’s talk about #6 because I’m sure it sounds like gibberish. At Provision Kitchen, you build your entrée with a base of your choice, a protein, and a number of fresh plant-based sides. Before I started working there, I never really considered adding a base to my meals. Some soupier or stewier meals called for a base, but nothing besides that.

But since working there, I’ve begun exploring ways to elevate my own bases at home. Beginning with cauliflower rice, for example. Cauli rice is just fine, but it’s not really something I get jazzed up about. It can be kind of blah. I wanted to find a way to elevate it but keep it simple or neutral enough to be able to go with a number of meals.

This recipe is simple, refreshing, and SO dang delicious. I’ve made it for several friends who have loved it; my recipe tester in Oregon really enjoyed it (she’d been looking for easy ways to make actually tasty cauli rice); and when I made it for my family, my brother requested that I make a double batch for him the next day. He’s since requested the recipe and makes it on a regular basis. You could definitely say this recipe is a crowd pleaser.

I’m going to think of more ways to elevate my bases, and I will post here as I successfully discover fun options. In the mean time, please let me know how you’re elevating your bases with the hashtag #elevateyourbase.

#elevateyourbase