There are many good reasons to prepare more of your meals using cauliflower. Firstly, it’s one of the healthiest of all vegetables and in addition to vitamin C, is also provides you with considerable amounts of iron, magnesium, potassium and carotene. But the the best thing about cauliflower is everything you can do with it. As the following recipes show, you don’t just have to stick to a cheesy cauliflower bake all the time.
1. Cauliflower Schnitzel
You’ll need:
- 1 cauliflower
- 3½ oz grated cheese (Dutch or Swiss)
- 1 onion, finely chopped and fried
- 1 egg
- salt, pepper
- 5 tbsp breadcrumbs
For the coating:
- flour
- beaten egg
- breadcrumbs
In addition:
- oil for frying
Here’s how:
1. First, take the cauliflower and separate the florets from the stem (using a kitchen spatula, for example). Cook it until soft in salt water. Then let it drain in a sieve and cool down.
2. Put the cauliflower in a bowl and add the cheese, the cooked onion, the egg, salt and pepper and the breadcrumbs. Mash the cauliflower with a fork and mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
Form a palm-sized schnitzel from this “dough,” then coat it — first in the flour, then in the egg and finally, in some more breadcrumbs.
3. Next, fry the schnitzel in a pan of hot oil until both sides are golden brown.
Serving tip: This schnitzel goes particularly well with tomato chutney.
2. Cauliflower Soup
You’ll need:
For the soup:
- 1¾ oz butter
- 1 cauliflower
- 2 onions, cut in strips
- salt, pepper
- nutmeg
- 1 pinch sugar
- 17 fl oz vegetable stock
- 10 fl oz cream
For the garnish:
- fried bacon, chopped in small pieces
Here’s how:
1. First sauté the cauliflower and the onions in the melted butter and season them with salt, pepper, some nutmeg and sugar. Add the stock and the cream and let the mixture simmer with the lid on, until the cauliflower is soft.
2. Now mix everything finely with a hand blender.
3. Garnish each portion with some bacon.
3. Cauliflower Soufflé with Rosemary and Brie
You’ll need (for 4 portions):
For the soufflé cream:
- 1 cauliflower divided into florets
- 17 fl oz cream
- salt
- 1 tbsp rosemary
- 2 tbsp cornstartch
- 4 egg whites
For the soufflé dishes:
- butter
- flour
For the filling:
- 4 small pieces of brie
Here’s how:
1. First cook the cauliflower florets together with the cream and salt in a pan and then purée them into a fine cream. Let it cool down completely.
2. Put the mixture in a bowl and add the rosemary and the cornstarch. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and then stir them into the cauliflower cream.
3. Grease four small heatproof soufflé dishes with butter and then swirl some flour around inside them so it sticks to the butter. Fill the dishes with the cauliflower cream and push a piece of brie into the center of each one.
4. Bake the soufflés in a preheated convection oven for 20 minutes at 390°F.
Now you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to deciding what to try out first. Or you can have the soup for your appetizer, the schnitzel as the main course, and the soufflé as a side dish…