Four Cauliflower Recipes

Cauliflower is an underestimated vegetable, even though you can easily adapt it to different recipes and it's remarkably healthy. In this article you'll learn some recipes and how to cook it to your taste.

Having healthy cauliflower recipes to hand is always useful. It’s a very versatile vegetable that blends perfectly with multiple meals. It also has high nutritional values, it’s affordable and a little of it goes a long way; so, it’s also a good economic choice too.

Preparing cauliflower

There are some steps that you must take before cooking with cauliflower. Firstly, it’s a vegetable that must be ripe.

• Selecting the vegetable. Picking a good product is the base for a good dish. A fresh cauliflower will be white and not stained; the leaves that wrap around it, will be green, and its base must be as white as possible. The florets must be tight and compact. These factors will guarantee a good and fresh cauliflower.
• Once you’ve washed it, remove the thick stalk and separate the florets in smaller pieces. If you have to cook it for your recipe, we recommend that you steam it for only six minutes; short cooking times will preserve its nutrients.

Cauliflower recipes

There are many options for cauliflower recipes. The occasion, the people who are going to eat it, and the ingredients that you have available, will determine what recipe suits you better.

1- Cauliflower polonaise

Easy, practical and ideal to pair with meats or for a light lunch or dinner. It’s a really simple but delicious recipe.

Ingredients:

• A medium cooked cauliflower 
• A tablespoon of chopped parsley
• Half a cup of fresh grated cheese 
• Half a cup of breadcrumbs
• A quarter of a cup of butter
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Put the cauliflower florets in an oven dish and place them aside.
2. Melt the butter and toast the breadcrumbs in it.
3. Remove the breadcrumbs from the heat and add the parsley, the grated cheese, the salt and the pepper.
4. Pour the mix over the cauliflower.
5. Broil them in a very hot oven.

2-Cauliflower and oat patties

It’s a great recipe for vegetarian diets and a great way to encourage children to eat vegetables. Besides, they taste very different to other types of patties.

Ingredients:

• A raw cauliflower 
• 5 tablespoons of oats
• 4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons of grated cheese 
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Remove the thick stalk and separate the florets into smaller pieces, then wash them.
2. Put them in a blender until you get a fine consistency.
3. Mix the cauliflower with the oats, the flour, the cheese, the breadcrumbs, the salt and the pepper.
4. Slightly beat the eggs and add them to the mixture, along with the olive oil.
5. Mix them until you have a moist, but not sticky dough.
6. Make five or six patties.
7. Grill them with a dash of olive oil until they’re golden.

3- Cauliflower fritters

This recipe is delicious and perfect to serve as an appetizer or as a healthy snack. How can you make delicious cauliflower fritters?

Ingredients:

• A medium cooked cauliflower 
• 2 eggs
• Half a cup of flour 
• A tablespoon of grated cheese
• A teaspoon of baking powder
• A tablespoon of chopped parsley 
• A chopped garlic clove
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Blend the cauliflower to make a paste.
2. Add the eggs and mix.
3. Add in the parsley, the grated cheese, the garlic and the salt and pepper. Mix everything together.
4. Add the flour, little by little, and mix it all together.
5. Pour the mixture in hot oil, using a spoon to form the fritters and move them slowly until they’re golden brown.
6. Drain the excess oil in a paper towel.

4. Pizza with cauliflower dough

It’s an ideal recipe for coeliac patients and for people who are intolerant to gluten. Children who don’t like to eat vegetables, will find pizza with cauliflower dough a healthy and tasty option.

Ingredients:

• Half of a raw cauliflower
• One egg
• 1 tablespoon of crushed almonds
• A tablespoon of Parmesan cheese
• A chopped garlic clove
• Salt, pepper and herbs to taste

Preparation:

1. Pass the cauliflower through a food processor until you’re left with very small pieces.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix them, until you get a moist and malleable dough.
3. Spread the dough over a baking tray with a spatula. It must be a thin layer.
4. Put it in a hot oven for 15 minutes. It should be golden brown and dry to the touch.
5. Cover it with tomato sauce and mozzarella.
6. Put it in the oven again until the cheese is melted.