We first made this cauliflower rice sauté when we were trying Valter Longo’s Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD)… and we were hungry all of the time. :)

Highly highly recommend reading the book (and if you want, and get permission from your doctor, trying the 5-day FMD). Decades of his research in gerontology has shown that our body’s natural ability to regenerate, rejuvenate, and protect different cells (blood, brain, liver, muscle, pancreas) improves with fasting (“Longevity Diet,” 2018). Through decreasing calories, and particularly protein, we decrease pathways that are associated with growth for those 5 days (which as you can imagine influences many different cells- from immune cells, to pancreatic beta cells) and our body initiates a set of reactions to get rid of anything that’s unnecessary- the dysfunctional “just laying around and not doing us any good” cells. When those calories and and building blocks are reintroduced after those 5 days, our body then switches on new cell production through stem cell activation, and new, functional, healthy cells are generated. This of course improves overall physiological functioning and staves off any disease that may be forming (autoimmunity, metabolic derangements such as glucose or insulin mis-balance, and others).

As an example, in humans he’s shown that after 3 cycles of FMD, subjects had lower incidence of cardiovascular disease risk (significantly lower triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, lower blood pressure and abdominal fat/ circumference), lower inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein), lower fasting glucose, decreases in body weight and body fat without loss of lean mass, and no adverse effects.

We love his research not only because of the importance to different parts to health and longevity, but also because we love how all-encompassing it is. He examines all cell lines (from yeast, to Drosophila, to rodents, to humans), and equally looks at populations (observational studies) as a whole.

Since trying the fasting mimicking diet and coming up with this cauliflower rice sauté, we make this recipe quite often. It really satisfies those cheesy, salty, slightly sweet, meaty/MSG flavors, and is equally low energy dense but high nutrient dense.

Try it and let us know what you think!

Recipe:

• 1 bag frozen cauliflower rice

• Pinch saffron

• Pinch turmeric

• 1 t. paprika

• 1 t. mustard powder

• 1/2 t. cumin

• 1/2 t. curry

• 1-3 cloves garlic

• 1/4 c. (or more if you like it more "cheesy") nutritional yeast

• 1-2 t. miso

• Hot sauce (to taste)

Mix all ingredients in pan, cover with lid, and heat through. Add hot sauce and more nutritional yeast according to taste.