How to cook cauliflower. Cauliflower salad

It is a very popular product in the diet of people who prefer a healthy diet. From it you can cook many delicious and healthy dishes. To make any cauliflower dish tasty, you need to choose fresh, tight inflorescences, just make sure that they do not have black dots. Below we will tell you how and how much to cook cauliflower.

How many minutes to cook cauliflower?

We divide fresh cauliflower into inflorescences, wash and cook in an enameled saucepan until fully cooked for 10-15 minutes, so that it turns out snow-white in water, you can add a quarter cup of milk and a teaspoon of lemon juice (per 1 liter of water).

Before frying, boil the cauliflower in salted water for seven minutes.

Cauliflower can be cooked in the microwave, for this we put the inflorescences in a special dish with a lid. Add three tablespoons of water and set to full power. Cook for three minutes, then add a little salt, mix gently and cook for another five minutes. The stems of the inflorescences should become soft.

It is also very easy to cook fresh cauliflower in a slow cooker, for this we divide the cabbage into inflorescences, put it in a steaming tray, select the appropriate mode and cook for 20 minutes. We check the readiness with a knife, if necessary, add time.

How much to cook cauliflower for a child?

It must be said that this is a very tender vegetable and it cooks very quickly, so cabbage should not be cooked for more than ten minutes, otherwise it will simply boil. Boil cauliflower for a child should be from five to ten minutes.

How long to cook frozen cauliflower?

Immerse the frozen cauliflower in cold water, put on a high heat, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook until cooked for 15-20 minutes.

How long to cook fresh cauliflower?

To speed up the cooking time of cauliflower, you can make a cross-shaped incision in the main stem with a depth of 1.5–2 centimeters. Stir the whole head, stalk down, into lightly salted water, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, the main thing is not to overcook the florets, as they can lose their shape and texture, which is important in salad recipes. To get rid of the smell that cabbage has, you can add a little bread to the water during cooking.

boiled cauliflower

Ingredients:

• cauliflower;
• water;
• salt - to taste.

Cooking

We wash the cauliflower, disassemble it into separate inflorescences. Dip the cabbage in boiling salted water and cook for 10-15 minutes. Drain the cooked cauliflower in a colander to drain the water. Transfer to a plate and serve.

Cauliflower for garnish

Ingredients:

• cauliflower - 600 g;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• olive oil - 3 tbsp. spoons;
• wine vinegar - 2 tbsp. spoons;
• salt - 2 teaspoons;
• black pepper - 2 pinches.

Cooking

We disassemble the cabbage into large inflorescences. Bring the water to a boil, salt well (the water should be salty). We lower the cabbage into boiling water and cook over high heat for 4-6 minutes. As soon as the cabbage began to be pierced with a knife, we immediately take it out of the water. We divide into smaller inflorescences. And season the cabbage with olive oil with wine vinegar or oil infused with garlic.

Boiled cauliflower with raisins

Cauliflower is a low-calorie product with a huge amount of nutrients, vitamins, macro- and microelements. It is widely used on the menu by those who adhere to proper nutrition, it is great for introducing baby food. This vegetable crop, when properly prepared, will not leave indifferent even those who do not particularly celebrate vegetable dishes in their diet. To cook this product deliciously, you first need to learn how to boil it. In our article, we will look at how to cook cauliflower correctly.

The final result will depend on the quality of the cauliflower head you choose. When purchasing a vegetable, pay attention to its properties:

• The size of the head of cabbage (choose a medium-sized vegetable).
• Cabbage leaves (should be fresh, without breaks).
• Inflorescence color (solid, beautiful bright white, without damage, dark spots and blackness).
• The head of cabbage should be dense, strong, weighty.

The preparation of all cauliflower dishes begins with boiling the vegetable. Before this process, the product should be properly prepared:

• Fill a deep container with cool water. Dissolve 1 tsp in it. salt and add some lemon juice (or citric acid).
• For a few minutes, immerse the entire head of cabbage in the prepared mixture - this will cleanse it of dirt, sand and “unwanted guests”.
• After that, rinse the vegetable under running water, dry it.
• Divide the prepared cabbage into inflorescences (carefully trimming the branches), adjusting their size as you wish.

The process of cooking cauliflower is simple, but do not forget that the taste of future food and the preservation of the nutrients contained in the main product depend on it. You must regulate the amount of time for boiling the prepared product yourself, based on the rule: the larger the size of the inflorescences, the longer they will cook, and focusing on the future dish - whether the cabbage will be baked, fried or stewed after boiling.

Peculiarities:

• Prepare dishes appropriate for the size of the prepared vegetable.
• Take cold water, bring it to a boil, salt to taste, add a little vinegar or lemon juice (to preserve the color of the cabbage).
• Put the product in water, cook over medium heat until the desired level of readiness.
• Important! In the microwave, the cooking time for cabbage is approximately 7 minutes, in a slow cooker - 10-15, in a double boiler (such boiling will preserve all the nutrients of the cauliflower as much as possible) - 20-30 minutes.
• Throw the finished boiled vegetable into a colander.

When boiling cauliflower, follow some tricks that will help improve the taste of the future dish, preserve its properties and appearance:

• The main trick is not to boil the vegetable for too long and do not collect a lot of liquid in the cooking container - the taste of the vegetable and the content of useful substances in it will decrease significantly from its large volume.
• Important! The water in which cauliflower has been boiled can be used to make sauces, broths, and soups.
• The unpleasant smell that accompanies cooking cauliflower can be eliminated by putting a small piece of cracker into the water.
• The taste of a vegetable will improve significantly if it is boiled in mineral water or plain, slightly sugared.
• Do not leave boiled cauliflower inflorescences in the broth. By allowing such negligence, you will worsen the taste of the product.

Having tried deliciously cooked cauliflower at least once, you will forever fall in love with this amazing and healthy product. You can please yourself with dishes from this vegetable at any time of the year, it will not be difficult to purchase it - it is sold both fresh and frozen.

If a person does not like cauliflower, perhaps he simply does not know how to cook it. This wonderful product not only allows you to diversify bored dishes, but also makes them more healthy. It is indispensable for those who adhere to a certain diet, eat healthy and properly, as well as for vegetarians.

What is useful cauliflower

Cauliflower has five undeniable benefits that prove that it should rightfully take its place in the daily diet of everyone and everyone.

• The first advantage of this vegetable is its hypoallergenicity. Even with the introduction of complementary foods to an infant, it is one of the first to be used.
• Cauliflower is rich in B vitamins, as well as C, A, U, PP, E, folic acid. It contains the daily norm of trace elements: potassium, magnesium, iron and calcium.
• This vegetable is famous for its low calorie content. And it goes well with most other foods, which is why cabbage is ideal for those who seek to lose extra pounds.
• The value of cauliflower for people with diseases of the digestive system lies in the fact that it is easily digestible. Due to the low fiber content, the vegetable is digested almost completely.
• Thanks to the substances contained in it, cabbage helps to reduce "bad" cholesterol and blood sugar and is an excellent prevention of cancer.

It is worth refraining from eating this vegetable except for diseases of the thyroid gland, gout, hypertension and in the postoperative period.

How to cook

Now let's look at a few more important topics. In what form is this vegetable eaten? How to cook cauliflower - in water or need to be steamed? What other cooking methods are there? How much to cook cauliflower so that it does not lose its beneficial properties? What delicious and healthy dishes can be prepared from it?

About everything in order. Cauliflower inflorescences are used as food. Perhaps the most popular way to serve this vegetable, boiled or steamed, as part of a side dish for the main course. But even in this case, it can be properly prepared in many different ways.

For cauliflower dishes, it is convenient to use not only traditional cooking methods, but also a modern miracle of technology - a slow cooker. She is a great helper in the kitchen of any housewife and allows you to cook healthy food correctly and in different variations. In a slow cooker, cauliflower can be steamed, stewed, fried, boiled, baked using the programs of the same name.

Before boiling cauliflower or subjecting it to other heat treatment, it must be cleaned of leaves, darkened inflorescences removed, the hard part of the core cut out, washed and divided.

Divided inflorescences should be cooked properly until fully cooked 10-15 minutes after boiling. In this case, the product retains its useful properties as much as possible. If the head of cabbage is used as a whole, its cooking time is 20-25 minutes after boiling. In a multicooker, the “cooking” or “vegetables” function is used for this purpose.

At the same time, a significant part of the nutrients from cauliflower is released into the water, so the resulting vegetable broth is good to use in soups, especially for baby food.

Steamed cauliflower cooks in 10-15 minutes. The best way to do this is in a slow cooker. Steamed vegetables are the best dish for weight watchers and calorie counters.

It can also be stewed in salted water over low heat or in a slow cooker. Cooking time 10-15 minutes. It will take about the same amount to lightly fry this vegetable with garlic in vegetable oil. Cauliflower is baked for 20 minutes at a temperature of 200º.

Fresh cauliflower can also be served raw, along with a sauce or as an ingredient in salads. Also, this product is very tasty if marinated and salted.

How to store cauliflower

Fresh cauliflower should be stored in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. After this period, the product withers, loses its taste.

For long-term storage, the vegetable is blanched and frozen. The first process is the immersion of washed and ready-to-eat inflorescences for three minutes in boiling water. After that, you need to let excess liquid drain from the cabbage, cool the product, put it in containers or freezer bags and send it to the freezer. In this form, vegetables can be stored for up to 12 months.

Cauliflower Recipes

Here are some simple and delicious cauliflower recipes for every day.

Mash freshly boiled cauliflower into a puree, add oil, salt and spices to taste. It will be a great alternative to mashed potatoes.

• Soup puree

Finely chop the onion with carrots (1 each) and fry over low heat. In a saucepan with 1 liter of water, add parsley, bay leaf, lower a small head of cauliflower, divided into inflorescences, and passivated vegetables. Cook over medium heat. In the multicooker, you can use the "soup" function. After it becomes soft, you need to get it and mash it into a puree.

In a frying pan, fry 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, add a little ready-made vegetable broth to the consistency of thick sour cream, put cabbage puree there. Strain the finished broth and, putting the resulting mass into it, cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Remove the finished soup from the heat. When serving, arrange on plates, decorate with herbs.

• Assorted vegetable casserole

You will need a small head of cabbage, a small zucchini, 100 g of green peas, an onion, a tomato, an eggplant. Next, you need to grease the baking sheet with vegetable oil and put on it finely chopped vegetables and cabbage, divided into inflorescences. Bake in an oven preheated to 200º for 15-20 minutes. Pour sauce over the dish or season with vegetable broth. After that, bake for another 10 minutes until fully cooked.

When preparing a dish in a slow cooker, all the ingredients, including the filling, are laid at the same time. The product is cooked on the "Oven" program for 30-35 minutes.

• Vegetable cauliflower salad

Pre-boil until cooked 1 beetroot, 1 head of small size, divided into inflorescences. You can steam vegetables. Chop the beets and 1 bell pepper. Make a dressing of olive oil, vinegar and spices, sprinkle all the prepared ingredients with it. Stir and let the salad brew a little. Bon Appetit!

Cauliflower is a healthy vegetable and, if cooked correctly, is very tasty. This variety got its name not because of the bright color, but because of the inflorescences, shaped like flowers. Under natural conditions, you will not find cauliflower. It was brought to us from the Mediterranean, which means it is quite suitable for those who are interested in the basics of the Mediterranean diet. To fully enjoy the taste of this wonderful product, you need to have an idea how and how much to cook cauliflower. From it you can cook a lot of delicious independent dishes. In boiled form, it can be used as one of the ingredients of other culinary masterpieces.

How to choose

Fresh cauliflower should be a light whitish milky color. Yellow or dark gray spots are unacceptable on inflorescences. Sluggish leaves indicate that the heads of cabbage have been lying on the counter for a long time. By choosing a fresh product, you will get more benefit from it. But due to the leaves and the stalk, it will come out more expensive.

If you decide to purchase a frozen product, then it is better to choose it in transparent packages. This makes it easier to determine the quality. Do not overpay for a large amount of snow in the package. Inflorescences of medium size should be light. By choosing a frozen vegetable, you deprive yourself of some of the nutrients. But due to the lack of stalk and leaves, it will come out cheaper. Yes, and it is more convenient to cook frozen buds.

For your information! Cauliflower can be included in any diet menu. This low-calorie product contains only 21 kcal per 100 grams.

Cooking rules

This vegetable can be cooked in a variety of ways. But frozen inflorescences are best cooked in the traditional way - in a saucepan. This makes it easier to control the readiness of the product. The buds should retain some crunchiness and not turn into mush.

Before you start cooking cauliflower, you need to disassemble it into inflorescences, rinse well under running water. If there is any doubt about the quality, then the buds can be soaked in salted water before cooking. All debris and insects will rise to the surface of the water.

Disassembled into inflorescences, cabbage should be placed in boiling, pre-salted water. If you put it in cold water, then during the cooking process, the buds will lose their shape and simply fall apart. After boiling, the fire must be reduced and continue to cook over low heat. Readiness is easy to determine with a knife. After the inflorescences are cooked, they need to be thrown into a colander.

Advice! If you decide to cook cauliflower in the traditional way, then for this purpose it is better to give preference to an enameled or thick-walled pan.

Before frying, the vegetable should be cooked for less time. After all, additional heat treatment can lead to the fact that it becomes too soft and tasteless. Before frying, it is enough to boil it for 4-5 minutes.

So that during the cooking process the buds do not acquire an unpleasant grayish tint, after boiling, one of the ingredients should be added to the water:

• half a liter of milk for 1.5 - 2 liters of water
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice for the same amount of water
• citric acid on the tip of a knife
• a few drops of 70% vinegar essence

Curious facts

• You need to boil the buds in a small amount of water. In this case, a rich vegetable broth is obtained, rich in useful trace elements. After that, you can cook a delicious soup on it or prepare an original sauce.
• The vegetable should be cooked longer if used for baby food. Based on it, puree is prepared for the first complementary foods.
• You can cook the buds faster if you first make cross-shaped cuts on them with a knife.
• Frozen food does not need to be thawed before cooking.
• Experienced housewives do not recommend cooking cabbage buds under a lid. So they can turn yellow.
• Only 50 grams of this product provides the daily requirement of the human body for vitamin C.
• Doctors recommend cooking and eating dishes from this unique vegetable for those who suffer from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, endocrine and genitourinary systems, and respiratory tract.

From cauliflower, which is pre-cooked, you can cook many healthy and tasty dishes. It doesn't take much time. Indulge in this exquisite pleasure.

Housewives are increasingly paying attention to these round curly forks, consisting of many inflorescences. And it’s not in vain, because cauliflower is much healthier than the usual white cabbage. It is better absorbed by the body, so nutritionists recommend it for dietary nutrition. But does everyone know how to cook it right?

How to prepare cauliflower for cooking

Cauliflower does not keep as long as white cabbage. Therefore, it should be used soon after harvesting or buying on the market, because it is still unknown how many days it was with the seller until it hit the counter. From long storage, it darkens and becomes bitter. Especially if it is kept in the light.

• At the head of cabbage, the stalk is cut off just below the beginning branching, and all leaves are also removed.
• Dark, rotten places are cut out with a knife. The darkened and withered tops of the inflorescences are cleaned with a grater.
• Forks are immersed in salt water before use: two tablespoons of salt are taken per liter of water. This is done in order to get rid of caterpillars and larvae, which often settle in numerous cabbage inflorescences.
• After that, the forks are washed well in cold water.
• If the cabbage is intended for a portioned dish, it is left in the form of a whole head of cabbage. And for a side dish, it is disassembled into inflorescences - buds.

How to cook cauliflower in a pot

• Water is poured into the pan, salted at the rate of 10 g of salt per liter of water, waiting for it to boil.
• Lay the kocheski and over high heat again bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat and continue cooking at a low boil. This technique helps to preserve the color of the cabbage.
• Boil inflorescences for 10-12 minutes. This cabbage is cooked quite quickly, so its readiness is checked by tasting it. If the cabbage is boiled for further heat treatment, such as roasting, then the cooking time is reduced to seven minutes.

Before serving, cauliflower is kept in a decoction for a short time. If it is left in a hot liquid for a long time, it will turn yellow. But this will not happen if the broth is cold.

How to cook cauliflower in a double boiler

• Prepared cabbage is disassembled into inflorescences and placed in a double boiler bowl.
• Steam for 20-25 minutes until soft.

How to cook cauliflower in a slow cooker

If there is a “Steaming” function, the cabbage is boiled by placing it in a bowl designed for this. The duration of cooking is 15-20 minutes. If there is no tray for steaming, then cook in the same way as on the stove. That is, they pour water into the bowl of the multicooker, bring it to a boil, salt it and lower the pots. Cook for 7-12 minutes.

How to cook cauliflower in the microwave

Method 1

• The prepared head is divided into inflorescences.
• Place in a suitable container. Pour some water. Salt.
• Close the lid and cook at full power for 5-7 minutes until soft. Leave for a while in a sealed container.

Method 2

• A head of cabbage is placed in a saucepan.
• Pour some water.
• Close the lid and simmer at full power for about 18 minutes. Readiness is checked with a fork.
• Excess liquid is poured out.

Method 3

• Prepared cabbage is disassembled into koshochki.
• Place in a bowl, pour 3 tbsp. l. milk per 0.5 kg of cabbage, salt and cover with a lid.
• Simmer at full power for about 3 minutes. Add spices and cook for another 10 minutes.

How to cook frozen cauliflower

Cauliflower is used in cooking without defrosting.