Steamed cauliflower: cooking secrets

Everyone eagerly awaits the onset of the season of ripening fruits and vegetables to compensate for the lack of vitamins and minerals after the winter. It is nice to crunch fresh cucumbers, make a salad or cook up a healthy cauliflower dish. If you cook the inflorescences for a couple, you can save all the useful properties of the product.

Syria is considered to be the birthplace of cauliflower, it used to be called Syrian. In the XII century, the plant came to Spain and Cyprus. From the last state, plant seeds began to spread to different countries, they were very expensive. If the seeds of Syrian cabbage were brought to Europe in the XIV century, they were brought to Russia only in the XVII – XVIII centuries.

The product has a low calorie content, which is 30 kcal per 100 g, it is used in various diets aimed at weight loss.

The price of the product at that time was very expensive, and only the richest people could afford it. For a long time in Russia it was difficult to grow cabbage due to difficult climatic conditions. Later, a variety that could withstand low temperatures was bred. Currently, cauliflower is often on the table, she is happy to eat fresh, especially tasty steamed cabbage inflorescences.

Cabbage inflorescences can be not only the creamy color common to everyone, but also have a purple, yellow or green hue. Often it is referred to as "curly" or "cottage cheese" cabbage. This name she received because of her head with buds that resemble flowers.

The product has a low calorie content, which is 30 kcal per 100 g, it is used in various diets aimed at weight loss.

Colored or Syrian cabbage has a lot of iron, it is much more in the product than is found in other vegetables. It also contains vegetable protein and fiber. Cabbage contains a sufficient amount of sodium sulfur, magnesium, calcium and potassium, as well as important trace elements such as zinc, manganese and copper.

The product is very useful for men as it contains the substance diindolylmethane, which prevents the development of prostate cancer. Perhaps not all men are fans of steamed vegetables, but after learning about the healing properties of the product, they must include it in their diet. Consuming cauliflower and broccoli can prevent and reduce the risk of breast cancer.

This product is recommended to include in your diet for people with diseases of the stomach, patients with endocrine diseases, people suffering from kidney and urinary tract diseases, as well as those who have problems with bronchi.

It is recommended to include it in the diet of children in the form of mashed potatoes. Kids can cook steamed blossoms or make vegetable stew, because many children do not like to eat boiled vegetables.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to use with caution a large amount of product for people with stomach ulcers, since this product causes excessive formation of gastric juice. This product should not be used in large quantities by people with gout, because of the purines that are in the composition.

If we talk about the benefits of plants, it is worth mentioning that cauliflower dishes are more useful than dishes from other types of cabbage. Compared with white cabbage, cauliflower blossoms have much more vitamin C, about 3 times. Cauliflower contains many useful and essential vitamins.

There are a lot of vitamins A, B, C, E in this vegetable. Thanks to vitamin B, it is possible to increase activity and energy, increase tone, strengthen memory.Thanks to vitamin A, you can slow down the aging process. Vitamin C is considered an important component to enhance immunity. Due to the presence in the product of vitamin E, you can adjust the hormones, normalize the menstrual cycle. Vitamin E is considered a beauty vitamin that maintains the beauty of skin, hair, nails.

The product also contains vitamins D, PP, B and N. The latter is biotin, it is very useful for beauty. It is often included in the composition of cosmetic products. According to experts, it is cauliflower that contains a large amount of biotin.

Thanks to the dietary fibers in this valuable product, it is possible to restore the intestinal microflora, cleanse the body, reduce weight. Calorie cabbage, cooked in different forms, will be different. Thus, the fresh protein content of proteins, fats and carbohydrates will be:

• proteins - 2.5;
• fat - 0.3;
• carbohydrates - 5.4.

Steamed Syrian cabbage will have the following characteristics:

• proteins - 2.2;
• fat - 0,0;
• carbohydrates -4.3.

The calorie content of the finished product is 25.5 calories per 100 grams of product. The standard portion of the product is 250 grams. If you bake the cauliflower in the oven, the figures will be different. Per 100 grams of the finished product accounts for:

• proteins - 2.9;
• fat - 1.6;
• carbohydrate - 5,6.

Calorie baked cabbage will be 46.9 kcal. If you cook fried cauliflower in batter, we get the following indicators:

• proteins - 5.0;
• fat - 8.0;
• carbohydrate - 11.7.

Caloric content of the finished product is 138, 9 kcal.

Considering that in the baked or fried form the cabbage becomes more nutritious, for those who seek to lose weight, it is worth cooking it for a couple. Cauliflower should be included in the diet and regularly cook from it a variety of delicious and healthy dishes in the form of meatballs, casseroles.

Cauliflower is considered to be a nutritious and tasty vegetable. It is cooked in different ways, but if you cook the vegetables for a couple, then during the cooking process, the beneficial substances that the human body needs are preserved. Properly cooked dish will be not only satisfying, but also useful.

If you cook food for a couple, all useful substances are preserved in it to the maximum, besides, the taste of the finished product will be more tender, and the texture will become soft and slightly crispy.

Some recommend to use the inflorescence raw, but after cooking in a double boiler, the cabbage is more tender and pleasant to the taste. You should not cook the product for too long, just hold for a couple for 15 minutes, and the finished dish can be served.

To cook a dish of cauliflower steamed, it must be prepared. It is necessary to inspect the heading, and remove the places where there are dark spots. When choosing cabbage, you should pay attention to the cabbages of medium size, elastic light color without dark patches. After purchasing fresh cabbage, it is better to cook it immediately, or you can leave it stored in the refrigerator for a week. If cabbages have harvested a lot, you can freeze it and send it in the freezer. Frozen cabbage retains all the beneficial properties for six months.

To prepare the product in a double boiler, inflorescences must be separated from each other. Inflorescences should not be too large. But do not cut them too small, so that in the process of cooking did not turn out mush. Washed inflorescences are placed on the tray, trying to keep them from lying on top of each other.

A steam cooker is put on the stove or set on a special mode in an electric double boiler.To prepare the dish in a double boiler is enough 25 minutes. If you cook it on the lower tiers, then the dish will be ready in 10 minutes. To check the readiness of the dish, inflorescences pierce with a sharp object. Do not pierce the inflorescence directly in the double boiler, otherwise you can burn yourself with steam. You need to pull the tray or piece of product on the plate and pierce it with a knife.

Cooking cauliflower for a couple is a snap. Cooking time may depend on the capacity in which the product is prepared and the size of the inflorescences. Cooking time usually takes about 20 minutes.

To steam the product you need to take:

• half a kilo of cauliflower;
• one teaspoon of salt.

The inflorescences are washed, large pieces are cut into pieces and salted. Inflorescences spread in a double boiler and leave to cook for 20-30 minutes.

An unusually tasty is a ready-made dish, poured with cream sauce. To make a creamy sauce, you need to take:

• a glass of cream;
• salt and black pepper.

All ingredients are whipped with a whisk, then add finely chopped onion and parsley. Finished cabbage blossoms are poured over the sauce before serving. Instead of creamy dressing, you can take sour cream, olive oil or soy sauce.

To cook cabbage with chicken breasts, you must take:

• half a kilo of inflorescences;
• half a pound of breasts;
• salt, pepper, spices to taste.

Chicken meat is cut into portions of 50–60 g and put in the lower part of the double boiler, salted Breast, sprinkled with pepper and spices for chicken.

In the upper part spread cauliflower. The steamer is covered with a lid and cooked for 25–30 minutes. The finished ingredients are mixed and watered with cream sauce.

To make burgers, boil the inflorescences and grind them in a blender. Add to the mixture of finely chopped garlic and herbs. To this mixture add 2 eggs and 50 grams of grated hard cheese. To make juicy burgers, oatmeal and some milk are added to the mixture. Cutlets are fried in butter until golden brown.

For stuffing you need to take:

• chicken meat - 400 g;
• boiled cauliflower - 400 g;
• egg - 1 pc .;
• salt, spices, chopped greens.

For cooking meatballs all the ingredients should be mixed. If minced liquid, you can add a little bran or crackers. The cutlets are made from the finished mince, they are rolled over in breadcrumbs and fried in a hot frying pan until a crust appears.

If there was no steamer at home, you can cook a steamed dish using a regular stove. For this you need:

1. Prepare a large saucepan, pour about 5–6 cm of cold water into it and bring it to a boil.
2. A steam basket is lowered into a boiling water pot; it can be replaced with an ordinary metal colander.
3. Inflorescences are placed in a basket or colander in a uniform layer.
4. Cover the pan and cook the dish for 5–15 minutes. Cooking time depends on the size of the inflorescences. For small inflorescences it takes less time to cook, it takes 5-7 minutes. For larger buds, the time should be increased.

During cooking the lid must always be tightly covered. To check the readiness of the dish, it is pierced with a knife or fork. It is not necessary to cook inflorescences for a long time, they should not be too soft. The less time a cauliflower is cooked, the more nutrients are stored in the finished dish.

After cooking, ready-made inflorescences are removed from the basket or colander and spread on a plate. Many experts recommend salting the already prepared steamed dish.The dish can be sprinkled with salt, pepper, other spices. Very tasty is a dish with grated cheese, you can sprinkle cabbage with greens or sprinkle with lemon juice.

It is worth getting creative, and you can please your family with nutritious, tasty and healthy dishes every day.

See how to make steamed cauliflower in the next video.