Whether as an accompaniment to meat, soup, casserole or finely chopped up as a raw vegetable salad: Cauliflower is incredibly versatile and tastes delicious in each of these variants. But before you can enjoy the vegetables, you need to clean and prepare them properly.

Cauliflower should be washed thoroughly before consumption

Method 1: Wash the cauliflower whole

If you want to cook the cauliflower as a complete head, for example in the oven, proceed as follows:

  1. Cut off the bottom of the vegetables with a sharp knife.
  2. Remove all outer leaves and cut the stalk crosswise.
  3. Place the cauliflower upside down in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes.
  4. For outdoor vegetables, where pests often hide, you should dissolve a teaspoon of salt in the washing water. Unwanted inhabitants of the cabbage are thus effectively flushed out.

Method 2: Wash the cauliflower in pieces

If you only need the florets, for example as a vegetable side dish or for preserving, we recommend the following procedure:

  1. Cut off the stalk and remove all the leaves.
  2. Cut off the remaining stalk at the base.
  3. Break out the florets, starting at the thick stems.
  4. If these are very large, share again.
  5. Rinse the cauliflower florets thoroughly under cold water.
  6. For outdoor cauliflower, soak the vegetable pieces in salted water for five to ten minutes before cooking. This allows you to reliably flush pests out of the fine ramifications.

Tricks for keeping cauliflower nice while cooking

  • You can add a splash of lemon juice or milk to the cooking water so that the cauliflower comes out appetizingly white on the table.
  • Cauliflower absorbs flavors from the cooking water better than many other vegetables. Add great flavor to the vegetables by seasoning the cooking liquid with broth, curry or white wine.
  • Unfortunately, the smell of cabbage is quite persistent. If you cook a bay leaf, this can be prevented.

tips

If cauliflower is not boiled, the heat-sensitive ingredients such as the richly contained vitamin C are preserved particularly well. If you want to enjoy the vegetables raw, you should finely slice them first. It's so easier to digest.

Category:

Vegetable garden