Is any variety suitable for salad?
Cauliflower has a very delicate texture,consisting of many inflorescences tightly pressed against each other, so it can be stored in the refrigerator for a little more than a week. Depending on the variety, the inflorescences can be white, ivory, yellowish and even purple. All of them are suitable for making salads, and the color will in no way negatively affect the taste of the final dish. When buying cabbage at the market, it is much more important to pay attention to the external data of the head, which should have a uniform color without darkening, and their presence indicates the onset of the rotting process. It is good if the head is elastic and has leaves at the base. They immediately show whether the vegetable is fresh or not. Freezing perfectly preserves all the beneficial properties of cauliflower. Therefore, if it is possible to grow it in a garden plot, you can divide the cabbage into inflorescences and freeze. Then you will be able to enjoy a healthy salad all winter without worrying about the quality of the main ingredient.
Preparation of the product with maximum preservation of useful properties
For the sake of benefit, small inflorescences of freshly cutcauliflower is eaten raw. They are suitable for decorating a salad. More often, cauliflower is heat treated - this is the first thing done with it before starting to prepare a particular salad. But it is important to know how to boil cabbage so that it retains all the vitamins, micro- and macroelements, as well as useful acids: pantothenic, citric, malic, folic. The superiority of cauliflower over white cabbage is that it has much more protein, ascorbic acid and has a full range of vitamins of groups B, A, D, E, K, PP and many others. The participation of cauliflower in many dishes of a dietary menu is explained by its low calorie content (21 kcal per 100 g of product) and the content of tartaric acid (a "blocker" of fats). And indole-3-carbinol - an essential participant in the production of the female hormone - estrogen. But this does not mean that cauliflower is of little use to men, because it has a beneficial effect on potency. Regardless of the gender of a person, it helps to remove harmful cholesterol from the body and strengthen blood vessels. Nutritionists recommend cauliflower for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, stomach ulcers, liver and gall bladder diseases. To preserve all the vitamins in cauliflower, it is better to steam it, having previously divided it into inflorescences. If you plan to use the inflorescences whole, then the tough petioles should be shortened, leaving the inflorescences on a short stalk. In some salads, cabbage is cut into cubes, then you can cut everything in a row, and the petioles too. Overcooking the vegetable will affect its taste, and it will also become unattractive in appearance. Therefore, the cooking time varies from 5 to 20 minutes. This range depends on the size of the inflorescences and whether the cabbage is fresh or frozen. As a rule, frozen cabbage takes longer. The maximum amount of fiber is preserved with 5-minute cooking. Do not pour too much water. The main thing is that the cabbage is covered with liquid. To preserve the original color, you need to cook over high heat with the lid open. The water is pre-salted, and the cabbage is loaded into boiling water. The addition of citric acid helps preserve the color. This can be done before cooking, keeping the cabbage in cold acidified water, or add lemon juice directly to boiling water. For the same purpose, cauliflower is boiled with sugar, and only then dipped in cold water with citric acid. Depending on the recipe for the future salad, you can also acidify the water with vinegar. Some cooks prefer to boil it in mineral water to enhance the taste. There are many methods of heat treatment, and each housewife decides which one to use by trial and error, taking into account the taste preferences of the household. No matter how the cabbage is cooked, it should not be left in the broth for a long time, otherwise it will lose its taste.
Fresh Cauliflower Salad
Cauliflower had a hard time getting used to itRussia, since this heat-loving crop required a special approach in agricultural technology. Culinary traditions for a long time "did not let" it on the table, regardless of the fact that this type of cabbage goes well with any products, be it vegetables, eggs or meat. Therefore, recipes for salad from fresh cauliflower are still a rarity. But the benefits of the vegetable are worth trying. Having experimented with the composition of the salad, everyone will definitely find a favorite recipe. Usually, for such a salad, divided and washed cauliflower heads are placed in a salad bowl, and greens, fresh cucumber, carrots shredded into strips, bell peppers and a few cloves of garlic are added to them. You can season it with mayonnaise, and for those on a diet, low-fat sour cream is better. It is not forbidden to mix cauliflower with cucumbers and tomatoes. You can also prepare a more nutritious and fatty salad using the following recipe:
- cauliflower (250 grams);
- champignons boiled or stewed (250 gr.);
- Bulgarian pepper, chopped straw (1 pc.);
- eggs, hard-boiled (3 pieces);
- kidney beans (2 tablespoons).
All ingredients are mixed and seasoned.mayonnaise. The salad is healthy and filling, but it is absolutely not suitable for dietary nutrition, either for weight loss or for diseases of the pancreas, since mushrooms are considered heavy food. The simplest recipe for a salad of fresh cauliflower is chopped cabbage, poured with a sauce of sour cream and garlic. Black pepper will help to add spiciness to the dish. It must be said that such a salad can be prepared with any sauce you like. Thus, among lovers of recipes from raw cabbage, a sauce of sour cream and soy sauce in a ratio of 2:1 is very popular, to which mustard seed (1 teaspoon) and herbs (dill, parsley, green onions, cilantro) are added. This sauce can be poured over simply cut into pieces cauliflower, or you can dress a salad of several ingredients (cabbage, tomatoes, chopped garlic, hard cheese). Olives are also good in this salad. However, experts warn that the garlic should be finely chopped and not pressed with a garlic press.
Culinary fantasies
As mentioned above, cauliflower is nothas no limits to the compatibility of products. Therefore, there are a great many recipes for dishes, and salads in particular. In addition, there is hope to invent something new to your taste. The ingredients that have already been mentioned in the salad of fresh cabbage can be successfully used with boiled cabbage: greens, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, olives, garlic, mayonnaise. Sometimes boiled poultry is added to all of the above, which makes the dish more nutritious. There is no strict proportion of products. As a rule, the housewife tries to simply use the entire head of cauliflower so that it does not spoil. On average, it weighs about 500 grams, so you can put it all in a salad or divide it into 2 dishes. A simple salad with a piquant taste is obtained according to the following recipe:
- boiled cauliflower (300 gr.);
- fresh apricots (4 pcs.);
- greenery;
- sauce from mayonnaise and thick cream (2: 1);
- salt and black pepper.
All ingredients are mixed and pouredthe resulting sauce. The apricots are pre-pitted and the fruit is randomly cut into small pieces. Boiled cauliflower goes well with lettuce, tomatoes and green peas, seasoned with sour cream and salt. This recipe is dietary, and lovers of experiments and a sweet taste add grapes, plums or apple slices to all of the above. But many, on the contrary, prefer spicy versions of cauliflower dishes. And the above-mentioned salad is a seasonal delicacy, when fresh fruits are on sale, but a salad with carrots and black radish can be prepared in winter if you stock up on cauliflower. Although fresh herbs are still present in this recipe. So, for cooking you will need 0.5 kg of boiled cauliflower, 1 piece of medium-sized carrots and black radish. Radish and carrot are shredded into strips on a grater intended for preparing Korean carrots. Then mixed, salted and left for 15-20 minutes until juice is released. Then they are mixed with prepared cauliflower and seasoned with herbs and a mixture of spices: paprika, black and red peppers, ground coriander, salt. The recipe does not use sauce, you only need to sprinkle with lemon juice. Some housewives prefer to add granulated sugar (1 tablespoon) to this salad. You can prepare a spicy dish using any Korean recipe. For those who have ever made a Korean carrot salad, this will not be difficult. Carrots (300 g) are grated into strips, ground with salt and left for some time. Then cauliflower (0.5 kg) and green beans (200 g) are boiled. Onions and bell peppers are fried in vegetable oil until transparent. Cabbage, carrots and beans are combined and mixed with vinegar (3% - 3 tablespoons), sprinkled with a mixture of peppers, coriander and poured with hot frying. Everything should be mixed well and left to marinate for at least 30-40 minutes. If desired, fresh cucumbers, cut into half rings or bars, can be included in the recipe. They can replace beans. Cauliflower can be combined with walnuts, shrimp, boiled fish, ham, corn, banana, raisins, pickles and tomato sauce. Imagination can be limited only by contraindications to any product for health reasons or high calorie content of ingredients, which is undesirable for those losing weight.
Tips from cooking professionals
Cauliflower salad recipes wherea large number of hot spices are used, an amateur's choice. Experienced cooks still agree that this vegetable does not tolerate ingredients with a hot taste and excessively rich aroma, and when the salad is seasoned with ground pepper, the proportion of red sweet pepper always exceeds hot varieties. Lemon, saffron, parsley or celery - these are the most common ingredients involved in the preparation of cauliflower salad. Of the sauces, varieties of vegetable-cream fillings with eggs and cheese are most often used, which helps to soften the taste when hot spices are present. For holiday salads, it is best to use only the tops of the inflorescences, and the coarser roots and water left over from boiling cabbage can be used in a dietary cream soup. Thus, you can cook two healthy dishes at once.
