Ingredient of the month: Cauliflower

By Feb 22, 2021 Recipes

Welcome back to our newly-launched ingredient series! Last month, we put pomegranate in the spotlight, discussing its various nutritional benefits while showcasing a range of delicious pomegranate-filled recipes for you to try. This month, we’ve got an inexpensive, versatile ingredient to share with you; the humble cauliflower. 

Cauliflower

If you talk to Brits around the world, they’ll likely tell you that cauliflower is a staple in their weekly menu – as it’s so often found on many Sunday roast dinners. But it’s not just boiled or steamed like other vegetables. Instead, a large proportion of Brits serve their boiled cauliflower drenched in a rich, gooey cheese sauce, which is baked in the oven until the molten sauce bubbles and the florets begin to brown. Sound good? Check out this Hello Chef recipe where we serve cauli cheese with crispy parmesan chicken, or try this indulgent twist on the dish here.

But aside from its commonplace in a cheese-filled baking dish, cauliflower is one of the most versatile vegetables available today. Boiled, roasted or blitzed into tiny ‘rice’ particles, it serves as a great, inexpensive vegetable to have in the fridge, and makes a fantastic addition to soup, stews or curries whenever you need it. 

Cauliflower is said to be at its best between February and May, and again between August and December. Nutritionally, it offers a fantastic dose of your recommended daily vitamin C intake, as well as acting as a great source of fibre. 

Here are some of our favourite cauliflower recipes for you to try… 

Cauliflower Korma with Basmati Rice and Chapatis

This light veggie korma really brings the best of cauliflower to the fore. In this recipe, we break it into bite size florets and roast in the oven with Indian spices until golden brown. We also love that it’s a much lighter version than your typical takeaway korma as we use coconut milk instead of cream. 

For the full recipe, click here.

Smoked Salmon and Cod Fish Pie with Cauliflower Mash

As someone who would happily have mashed potato with every meal, I was skeptical about swapping the topping on a classic fish pie to a low-carb alternative. But I’ve been forced to eat my words (quite literally) and admit that this cauliflower mash serves as a gorgeous guilt-free option, demonstrating the vegetable’s brilliant versatility once more. Want to try it for yourself? Find this on next week’s menu!

For the full recipe, click here. 

Low-Carb Chicken Katsu Curry with Cauliflower Rice

If you blitz a vegetable into fine enough particles, I guess there are many ingredients that could serve as ‘rice’. But cauliflower rice is by far the closest match that we’ve found to our carby alternative. We’d recommend using a food processor to get a super fine grain.

For the full recipe, click here.

If you enjoyed this post, you may be interested in reading more about our recipes. For easy dinner recipes that require minimal washing up, check out our top pick of one-pot recipes here.