Irish Winter Veg in season part 2

Cauliflower is becoming more popular now. With the growth of the Vegan culture its versatility is a great advantage. It is in season all year round and I love the fact that when I go to the supermarket it is usually Irish! I hate buying vegetables that have lots of air miles. here I will talk about cauliflower and my favourite recipe for Indian Style cauliflower i s on my website, it is worth checking out these 41 cauliflower recipes

Mark Twain once described cauliflower as "Cabbage with a college education", a well grown cauliflower looks impressive. It is similar in structure to broccoli and belongs to the brassica family. The part we eat consists of a cluster of flower heads, know as the curd, if left alone, these flower heads would eventually develop seeds. Cauliflower is shy and hides from the sun and is protected by its out leaves.

Cauliflower contains mustard oils, which are natural chemicals that give the vegetable its flavour but also break down into a variety of smelly sulphur compounds when the cauliflower is heated. Therefore, the longer you cook the cauliflower the greater the smell. Apparently adding celery seeds or leaves to the water cuts down the smell.

Buying and Storing Tips

Buying Cauliflower:

• Should be dense and heavy
• Leaves should look fresh and green
• Florets should be tight and compact
• No dark spots or mildew (if there are a few brown spots on the outer edges of the florets, simply cut them off before cooking)
• Stem should be satiny white with no dark patches

Storing Cauliflower:

• Store in fridge
• Don’t wash until ready to use
• Store stem-side down so condensation doesn’t collect on the florets
• Lasts about 5 days in the fridge
• Lasts 1-3 days in the fridge after it’s cooked

Cauliflower is an excellent source of

vitamin C, providing antioxidant nutrients.
vitamin K, known for its anti inflammatory properties,

folate and vitamin B6.

It is a very good source of dietary fiber.

On the flipside of all those positive health benefits, it’s important to note that cauliflower contains naturally occurring substances called purines. Purines can be broken down to form uric acid. Individuals prone to gout or kidney stones, or other health problems related to excess uric acid in the body, may want to limit or avoid eating foods that contain purines.

Cauliflower is a source of sulforaphane, a compound that attacks cancer cells and slows the growth of tumours. Unfortunately, sulforaphane is a byproduct of an enzymatic process that only occurs if you eat raw Cauliflower, because cooking kills the enzymes. So maybe try some recipes calling for raw cauliflower!

What does cauliflower go with?
Cauliflower can often be served roast on its own but I prefer to mix it up with other things to enjoy it. They go with anchovies, breadcrumbs, broccoli, butter, capers, cheese (cheddar, gruyere, mozzarella and parmesan), coriander, cumin, garlic, ham, lemon juice, olive oil, olives, oregano, parsley, red onion and turmeric. My recipe this week uses lots of these ingredients.

Raw - It can be grated or blitzed to make cauliflower rice or fermented, as usual, when vegetables are close to their raw state you can maximise the nutrients. They can also be broken into florets for crudite when dipping into hummus etc.

Soups spiced cauliflower soup or cauliflower cheese soup is nice. Here is Lilly Higgins Cauliflower soup recipe. You can use the leaves and stalks in stock.

Salads When I like the NY Times salad with capers , parsley and vinegar. Roast cauliflower florets with spiced chickpeas and a tahini and lemon dressing is also a nice one.

Savoury dishes - The classic cauliflower cheese is something I remember from Sunday dinners as a child, anything to make the vegetables taste nicer! Now I find it to heavy and I much prefer my C auliflower Indian style. The vegetable is cut up small and cooked very quickly so there is no sulphur smell in the kitchen, just a delicious, tasty fresh aroma of herbs and spices. Fritters are also a great way to use up cauliflower. Have you tried cauliflower as a gluten-free pizza crust? Cauliflower puree can be served with food. In my cookery classes , I include cauliflower in my amazing vegan bolognese


Dips- You can make a lovely creamy dip with greek yoghurt, olive oil, garlic and spices with cooked cauliflower

Sweet dishes - I have to admit, I have never used cauliflower in a dessert but if that is your thing, here are 13 pictures of where people have used cauliflower in a dessert!

Juices/smoothies Yes, you can add steamed cauliflower to your smoothies!

I hope you try out my Cauliflower Indian Style and please let me know if there is any food or food related topic you would like me to include in my blog.

Happy cooking

Fiona