Home Farm Herbery

Let’s Talk About Cauliflower©

Cauliflower is great raw or cooked even though most North American cooks tend to overcook it and render it almost useless.It is a great raw snack and really is easy to grow.Fresh cauliflower is an excellent source of vitamin C; 100 g provides about 48.2 mg or 80% of daily recommended value. Vitamin-C is a proven antioxidant helping to fight against harmful free radicals as it boosts immunity and helps to prevent our bodies from infections and cancers.

Packed with rich nutrients, cauliflower or cabbage flower is one of the commonly used flower-vegetable. The flower heads contain numerous health benefiting phtyo-nutrients such as indole-3-carbinol, sulforaphane etc., that help prevent prostate, ovarian and cervical cancers.

Botanically, it is a member of the cruciferous or brassicaceae family. It has got a similar nutritional and phyto-chemistry profile with broccoli and cabbage. Several cultivars exist other than common snow-white variety, including green, orange, purple, and romanesco heads.

Though Cauliflower is available all year round it is best when purchased during the winter months and when shopping choose fresh heads featuring snow/creamy white, compact, even heads that feel heavy in hand. Do not choose heads with grainy surface and separate heads as it indicates over maturity while green coloration may be due to over exposure to sunlight. Always avoid heads with bruised surface as they indicate poor handling of the flower and those with dark color patches as they indicate mold disease known as downy mildew.

Upon returning home, store in the refrigerator set with higher relative humidity. They stay fresh for about a week if stored properly.

Here at Home Farm Herbery we love cauliflower and we grow several varieties of the common white variety and the purple.

Cauliflower, like broccoli is made up of tightly clustered florets that begin to form but stopped at bud stage. This cool-season vegetable prefers fertile rich adequate moisture in the soil to flourish and to keep the flower heads creamy white, they should be protected from sunlight. This is done by tying the close-by leaves together over the heads when the heads are the size of a quarter. Over-maturity makes the heads get loose and grainy surfaced, and lose much of their flavor and tenderness.

For those dieting it is very low in calories. 100 g of the fresh cauliflower head provides only 26 calories and it is very healthy as it comprises of several health-benefiting antioxidants and vitamins in addition to be very low in fat and contains no cholesterol.

Cauliflower florets contain about 2 g of dietary fiber per 100 g; providing about 5% of recommended value and it contains several anti-cancer phyto-chemicals like sulforaphane and plant sterols such as indole-3-carbinol, which appears to function as an anti-estrogen agent. Together these compounds have proven benefits against prostate, breast, cervical, colon, ovarian cancers by virtue of their cancer-cell growth inhibition, cytotoxic effects on cancer cells.

It seems to me that maintaining good health really is in what you eat since my research shows that Di-indolyl-methane (DIM),a lipid soluble compound present abundantly in Brassica group of vegetables has found effective as immune modulator, anti-bacterial and anti-viral compound by synthesis and potentiating Interferon-Gamma receptors. DIM has currently been found application in the treatment of recurring respiratory papillomatosis caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and is in Phase III clinical trials for cervical dysplasia.

Just when you think Cauliflower cannot get any better we learn that It contains good amounts of many vital B-complex groups of vitamins such as folates, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B6) and thiamin (vitamin B1), niacin (B3) as well as vitamin K. These vitamins are essential in the sense that body requires them from external sources to replenish and required for fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism.

Further, it is an also good source of minerals such as manganese, copper, iron, calcium and potassium. Manganese is used in the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Potassiumis an important intracellular electrolyte helps counter the hypertension effects of sodium.

After all this health information why not try some of Home Farm Herbery recipes using this wonderful vegetable.

Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients”

2 tablespoons minced garlic

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large head cauliflower, separated into florets

1 tbsp Dragon Mix Salt (Organic, Chemical-Free)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease a large casserole dish.

Place the olive oil, Dragon Mix Salt (Organic, Chemical-Free) and garlic in a large resealable bag. Add cauliflower, and shake to mix. Pour into the prepared casserole dish and Bake for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through. Top with Parmesan cheese and parsley, and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown.

On a cool wintery day there is nothing better than cream of cauliflower soup severed with some great home made Artisan bread.The nice thing about this soup is you can make it and freeze it in individual servings and it will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months.

Cauliflower Soup (Serves 8)

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion (6 ounces), sliced thin

1 head very fresh cauliflower (about 1-1/2 pounds), broken into florets

Salt, to taste

5 1/2cups water, divided

Extra virgin olive oil, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Warm the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Sweat the onion in the olive oil over low heat without letting it brown for 15 minutes.

Add the cauliflower, salt to taste, and 1/2 cup water. Raise the heat slightly, cover the pot tightly and stew the cauliflower for 15 to 18 minutes, or until tender. Then add another 4 1/2 cups hot water, bring to a low simmer and cook an additional 20 minutes uncovered.

Carefully working in batches, purée the soup in a blender to a very smooth, creamy consistency. Let the soup stand for 20 minutes. In this time it will thicken slightly.

Thin the soup with 1/2 cup hot water. Reheat the soup. Serve hot, drizzled with a thin stream of extra-virgin olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.

Cauliflower Crudités are wonderful with any of our Home Farm Herbery dips.

How to Prepare the Cauliflower
using a chef's knife cut the head of cauliflower in half vertically to reveal the core. Using a paring knife, cut out the inner core and trim away any green leaves. Cut the cauliflower head into florets, each about 1 3/4 inches long. If the floret stems seem tough, peel them with the paring knife.

Cauliflower is a great stir fry additive so don’t forget to try that also.

If you are a gardener and have yet tried to grow cauliflower, why not consider a small patch this year.You will be pleasantly surprised.

Tread the Earth Lightly

Arlene Wright-Correll

Home Farm Herbery

P.S.  Get your cauliflower organic seeds now as we only have a limited supply.

Purple cauliflower seeds

http://www.localharvest.org/cauliflower-purple-non-hybrid-non-gmo-seeds-C25297

Cauliflower white year round http://www.localharvest.org/cauliflower-all-year-round-seeds-non-gmo-C24565

Cauliflower early snow ball

http://www.localharvest.org/cauliflower-early-snowball-og-seeds-C24564