How Do I Cook Cauliflower ?
Cauliflower can be cooked by baking, pureeing, sautéing or steaming. Cauliflower has crisp leaves covering the vegetable, and these leaves protect and keep cauliflower fresh. Select a cauliflower that is creamy or white, and feels a bit heavy and firm. Never buy cauliflower that has dark spots on it. |
The cauliflower head contains small, and tightly compact white florets on thick stems. The head along with the leaves is edible. To start off with cooking, fill a vessel with water and add 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar to clean cauliflower. Remove the outer leaves, but retain the inner tender ones. Cut florets carefully to soak them in to the prepared water containing edible acid. To separate the florets, you should cut the stem above the joint of the florets. While storing, you need to keep the cauliflower unwashed in the fridge covered by a plastic bag. Use cauliflower within two or three days. Do not cook cauliflower in aluminum or iron pot to avoid reaction between the chemical compounds in cauliflower and aluminum or iron.
Blanching is another method of cooking, and blanched cauliflower can be frozen and keep for about a year in the freezer. To blanch cauliflower, boil water and dip the cauliflower in it. After dipping cauliflower, boil water again by covering the pot. Set the timer depending on the size of the vegetable. When the process is complete, you can remove cauliflower from water and then put it in to another container having ice cold water. Cool the vegetable taking almost the same time taken for blanching.
Steaming and microwave cooking will preserve the nutrients as such. Cauliflower can be used in salads and many other dishes and also as a substitute for broccoli. You can cook the vegetable as a whole or by separating the florets.
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