Adventures in Cauliflower; the journey begins

   Cauliflower is a pretty amazing super food! Yet somehow this cruciferous veggie is sadly under appreciated. Containing Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate, Pantothenic Acid, Potassium and Manganese, cauliflower's only negative aspect is it's high proportion of sugars. While carbs can add to weight gain, occasional use - especially when considering the benefits- is really pretty minimal. 

   Up until 7 years ago, my experience with cauliflower had been severely limited to dipping it in French onion or veggie dip.  While picking up some supplies at my favorite health food store, I ran across a book on the Raw Food diet. I was intrigued! I began googling recipes and that's when I discovered a group called gone raw. [www.goneraw.com] is my favorite resource for new veggie recipes. I do believe that there are some foods better digested when cooked, however the ingenuity in gone raw is phenomenal! 

     Among these creative, delicious and bazzar recipes is a recipe for cauliflower "popcorn."  [http://goneraw.com/recipe/raw-popcorn]. This recipe redefined my narrow minded presumptions of both cauliflower and popcorn, it challenged my view of food in general. My taste buds and my waist line rejoiced! Today I am going to show you how I make my cauliflower rice, and also a basic "rice" recipe that makes an excellent side dish to most dinners. 

   

     How to make cauliflower rice

      •  blender or food processor

      • 1 head of cauliflower. I prefer organic,

      but any veggie is better than none.

      Therefore, if all you can find is frozen 

      conventional cauliflower; by all means

      by it! 

      • water (optional)

         * Mesh strainer -if using the water method

         * spatula or long handle spoon 

     First, you will need to cut the cauliflower in to medium size chunks. Don't worry about getting them exactly the same size. As a matter of fact you can even toss in the stem in chunks. 

      Place all the cauliflower into your blender or food processor. This is where I would add the water. Just enough to cover the cauliflower. Pulse on the grind button a couple times until you like the consistency.  The first time I made it I ground it pretty fine. Now that we have it more often I make it much chunkier. 

       Now pour the cauliflower into the mesh strainer and press out as much water as you can. From here you can toss it straight into the pan or bowl to begin preparing your dish. You could also simply toss it in a pan with some butter/oil or season well and dehydrate it. 

   

        Basic Cauli Rice Recipe

         This recipe will feed 4-6 

        1 batch cauliflower - riced

        1/2 onion minced

        2-4 cloves garlic minced ( I like a lot, add it to taste) 

        3 tablespoons olive oil (coconut oil or butter would also work well) 

        Sea salt and pepper.

   

       Heat 2T oil in you pan. 

       Toss in onion and cook to translucent. 

       Add cauli rice +  SS&P, stir well.

       Cover and cook 6-8 mins. 

       Stir occasionally.

       Add last tablespoon oil and garlic. Cook 2-3 more minutes. 

       

This dish is good hot or cold, and is really fabulous with some nice shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano, or regular Parmesan will do just fine as well. 

 

            If you make this recipe and like it, or have any questions, please leave a comment below. These recipes were inspired by my favorite blogs; however, when creating these recipes I made them by adding ingredients until I was satisfied. Any similarities is nothing more than coincidence. 

                                                      Thanks for reading! 

For more information on cauliflower I'd like to recommend a fantastic article by Dr Mercola. 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/02/22/cauliflower-health-benefits.aspx

    Nutritiondata.self.com has a fabulous resource that tells you the nutritional values of most foods; available on their website. Here is an example of Cauliflower. 

Cauliflower, raw

Serving size:                                               100 grams                                               1 ounce  (28g)                                              1 cup  (100g)                                              1 floweret  (13g)                                              1 head, large (6-7" dia)  (840g)                                              1 head, medium (5-6" dia)  (575g)                                              1 head, small (4" dia)  (265g)                                      

FOOD SUMMARY

Nutrition facts label for Cauliflower, raw

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Nutritional Target Map  

Nutritional Target Map for Cauliflower, raw

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4.54.5Fullness FactorND Rating

NutritionData's          
Opinion

Weight loss:
Optimum health:
Weight gain:

The good: This food is very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate, Pantothenic Acid, Potassium and Manganese.

The bad: A large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars.

Caloric Ratio Pyramid  

Caloric Ratio Pyramid for Cauliflower, raw

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78%	3%	19%
Carbs	Fats	Protein

2

 

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2390/2#

Chart Source:  Self Nutritional Data, Cauliflower, Raw; Self Nutrition Data, Conde Nast; 2014; WEB;   17, August, 2014.