Cauliflower puree: how to prepare? Cooking cauliflower: the best recipes

Cauliflower is a healthy and nutritious vegetable, but many housewives completely undeservedly ignore it. But you can prepare a lot of delicious dishes from it. Young cauliflower can even be eaten raw, but it is often prepared in various ways. Usually boiled and then stewed with meat, fish or other vegetables, or simply fried. You can make a delicious puree from cabbage.

First of all, you should choose the right cauliflower. The green leaves that surround the head of cabbage will tell about its quality and freshness, and it, in turn, should be heavy and strong. The color of the cabbage can be different, the only thing is that there should be no dark spots on it, this indicates that the head of cabbage is far from fresh and has already begun to rot.

Before cooking, in order to get rid of insects that may be located in the vegetable, it must be immersed in very salty water for 5-10 minutes, then they will float up.

To prevent the cabbage from losing its white color during cooking, add a little sugar to the boiling water. And to improve the taste of the vegetable, it must be boiled in mineral water.

Raw cabbage is most often not fried immediately, but boiled first, because when frying it can become dry.

Cauliflower puree: recipe

This dish is an excellent alternative to mashed potatoes, but has less calories, but is not inferior in taste! This puree is perfect as a side dish for poultry and fish dishes. The main thing is to taste the cabbage before cooking and make sure it is not bitter, otherwise the dish will spoil. Frozen cauliflower will also work well for this dish and it will take even less time to prepare.

Main conclusions

Dietary recipes for cauliflower dishes will help make the diet of those losing weight more varied and tasty. This product contains a lot of useful substances, quickly satisfies hunger, cleanses the gastrointestinal tract of harmful accumulations, accelerates metabolic processes, promotes rapid fat burning, and reduces the level of bad cholesterol.

When losing weight, it is recommended to boil, steam, bake or stew cabbage. You should not cook it in a frying pan, although short-term stewing of the ingredients in a mixture of olive oil and water is allowed. Use low-calorie ingredients for dietary recipes, give preference to fresh, natural products. Supplement the menu with delicious and healthy soups, purees, salads, casseroles, stews to speed up weight loss and satisfy your hunger.

Share in the comments original recipes for cauliflower dishes that are suitable for a healthy diet.

Preparation:

Boil the cabbage in salted water along with the garlic cloves until it is soft, this will take 10-15 minutes.
Then place the cabbage in a blender and blend several times, add kefir (sour cream, yogurt), pepper and salt. Make puree (you need to add fermented milk products until the consistency of the dish completely satisfies you).
This dish is served hot, with olive oil and herbs.
If desired, you can add cheese or fried champignons to this puree.

Dietary chicken with cauliflower in the oven

How to quickly and easily prepare a great post-workout dinner? Take note of this recipe! You will need the following ingredients:

1 chicken fillet. Cut into thin strips or pieces.
300 grams of flower inflorescences. To.
1 medium carrot. Cut into cubes.
Spices and herbs: salt, black pepper, dried basil, paprika.
10 grams of olive oil.

Combine all ingredients and leave to marinate for about 10 minutes. Then place it in foil and put it in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Temperature 180 degrees.

Preparation:

Peel and finely chop the onion.
Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes.
Cauliflower should be divided into inflorescences.
In a thick-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter, add the onion and fry for 3-4 minutes until it becomes soft.
Add potatoes, cabbage and pour boiling water from the kettle so that the vegetables are covered with water.
Salt and pepper the vegetables and cook for 20-25 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
Afterwards, all the liquid should be drained (2 tablespoons should be poured into a separate container).
Then the vegetables need to be transferred to a blender, pour in the vegetable broth, add the garlic passed through a press.
Now you need to beat a homogeneous creamy mass.
Return the mixture to the pan, pour in the cream, stir thoroughly. Heat to desired temperature, but not to boiling!
If you want a thinner soup, you can add more vegetable broth.
Then the soup must be poured into a plate and sprinkled with crackers, boiled chicken or chopped boiled egg on top.

Basic recipe with step-by-step instructions

Ingredients:

500gr. cauliflower.
Low-fat cheese about 100 gr.
Sour cream 15% fat or natural yogurt - 2 tablespoons.
1 chicken egg.
A pinch of salt, herbs to taste, and a little garlic to spice up the dish.

How to cook:

First you need to wash the cauliflower and separate it into inflorescences. Then boil in salted water for about 3-5 minutes. It is better to put the vegetable in boiling water and cook under the lid over low heat, this way less vitamins are lost during cooking. If you put the vegetable in cold water and wait for it to boil, most of the benefits will remain in the water.
Afterwards, place the boiled inflorescences in a baking dish. You can sprinkle lightly with olive oil. But just sprinkle the bottom, and not pour generously. Otherwise, the calorie content of the dish will increase significantly.
In a separate container you need to prepare the sauce in which the cabbage will be baked. To do this, the egg is mixed with sour cream or natural yogurt, after which salt, spices and finely chopped herbs are added. Everything is thoroughly mixed until the products are evenly distributed in the sauce.
Pour this sauce over the prepared cauliflower.
Lastly, grate the cheese on a medium grater and sprinkle on top of the dish.
The dish is placed in a preheated oven and baked for about 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees. (Based on the oven, sometimes the cooking time may deviate more or less due to the characteristics of household appliances).
After the specified period of time, remove the dish from the oven, let it cool and you can start eating. When cold, the taste is not lost.

If the recipe for cooking dietary cauliflower in the oven seems boring, you can diversify it by adding different products. This will add additional flavor notes, make the dish more filling or visually attractive due to the addition of bright foods.

We recommend watching a video about preparing a healthy cauliflower casserole:

Preparation:

Divide the cabbage into inflorescences, rinse thoroughly, the pieces should not be too large.
Boil water, add salt and place the inflorescences in it, cook until tender for about 12 minutes, the main thing is not to overcook it.
Now you can start preparing the batter. To do this, beat the eggs with herbs and salt until a slight foam forms and gradually add flour, stirring constantly. The batter should be thick.
Place the finished cabbage in a colander and wait until it dries and cools slightly. Then roll each piece well in batter and fry in hot oil until golden brown.
Place the hot pieces on a plate, sprinkle grated cheese on top and serve!

Low-calorie recipe options: quick and tasty

Dietary cauliflower dishes must be prepared according to the recipe. The vegetable is used to make delicious first and second courses, snacks, and low-calorie baked goods.

For cauliflower recipes to be dietary, it must be combined with low-fat foods. The product is used to prepare soups, purees, salads, casseroles, stews and much more.

When preparing dietary dishes from cauliflower, it is not recommended to use cooking oils, semi-finished products, ingredients with high fat content, large amounts of chemical additives or stale products.

Almost all dietary recipes are simple and quick to prepare, so they are perfect for busy people. But the best thing is that they are tasty and contain a minimum of calories, so now the diet will not be a burden.

Baked in the oven

This dietary dish has a delicate taste and aroma, retains many useful substances. It's perfect for lunch.

Recipe:

Wash 400 g of cauliflower, chop.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment and place the pieces.
Beat 2 eggs with 200 ml of kefir (low fat), add salt, spices, beat again.
Pour the filling over the cabbage, bake for 25 minutes at 180-200 degrees.

Serve the dish with herbs or sour cream/natural low-fat yogurt sauce with dill and lemon juice.

Cabbage puree

Low-carb cauliflower puree is a worthy replacement for potato puree. The dietary dish is prepared simply and quickly, has an appetizing aroma of garlic and a creamy taste.

Step by step recipe:

Boil 800 g of cabbage in salted boiling water for 10-15 minutes, drain.
Add 100 ml of low-fat cream, beat with a blender until pureed.
Add 1 tsp to the mixture. butter and 4 tsp. olive oil, pepper, 3 chopped garlic cloves, chopped green onions, mix.

Eat this puree with boiled or steamed chicken to fill the protein gap.

Cream soup with chicken meat

A tasty and satisfying dietary first course will help satisfy your hunger and saturate the body with useful substances. To reduce calorie content, it is cooked in secondary broth.

Recipe:

Boil chicken breast (2 pieces) for 5-8 minutes, then drain.
Pour clean water (1 liter) over the meat, and when it boils, remove the foam, reduce the heat, add 600 g of inflorescences.
After 10-15 minutes, add a little salt and spices.
Remove the pan from the heat and remove 1 breast.
Using a blender, puree all ingredients.

Serve the puree soup with chopped breast, herbs and croutons.

Vegetable salad

This is one of the lowest calorie recipes that will satisfy your hunger for a long time. The main ingredient of a dietary salad is fresh cauliflower. If you cannot eat it raw, then boil or steam the product for several minutes.

Recipe:

Divide the peeled cabbage into inflorescences (800 g).
Tear 100 g of lettuce leaves with your hands, chop 20 g of greens.
Cut 300 g tomatoes into cubes.
Mix all ingredients, season with 2 tsp. lemon juice, 2 tbsp. l. olive oil.

This dietary salad can be an excellent snack or complement a meat/fish dish.

Stewed with vegetables in a slow cooker

This aromatic and tasty vegetable diet dish will help you cope with hunger and energize your body.

Step by step recipe:

Remove the seeds, chop 2 paprikas, 3 tomatoes, separate 200 cauliflower and broccoli into inflorescences.
Simmer chopped onion, grated carrots, 2 cloves of chopped garlic in a mixture of water and olive oil for 3 minutes.
Then place all the above components into the multicooker container, add 100 g of green beans, cook in the “Stew” mode for 20-30 minutes. Add salt and spices, and remove after 3 minutes.

When serving the stew, you can sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Casserole

This is a multi-component dietary dish that is at the same time very tasty, satisfying and nutritious. But you shouldn’t get carried away with it, because when losing weight, everything should be in moderation.

Recipe:

Disassemble 500 g of cabbage, cut 350 g of chicken fillet into small pieces, pour 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice, refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Mix 3 tbsp. l. bran with 70 ml of low-fat warm milk.
Cut 1 paprika into strips, mix it with cabbage and chicken. Place the ingredients in a silicone mold and bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees.
Pour the milk mixture over the baked vegetables and place in the oven for another 15-20 minutes.
Sprinkle the hot casserole with 120 g of grated Gaudette cheese (7% fat).

Sprinkle the casserole with your favorite herbs.

Cabbage in a steamer with chicken

Stewed cabbage in a steamer with tomato and chicken will be an excellent lunch for a fan of healthy eating.

Step by step recipe:

Divide 500 g of cauliflower into pieces.
Chop onions and carrots.
Cut 400 g chicken breast into cubes.
Simmer meat with carrots and onions in olive oil and water, add 1 tbsp. l. tomato paste, 100 ml water.
Place all ingredients into a steamer container, add salt and stir. Cook on the “Stew” or “Vegetables” program for 30-40 minutes.

The dietary dish can be supplemented with zucchini or green peas.

Risotto

Cauliflower goes great with rice, especially steamed or brown rice.

Recipe:

Take 1 head of cabbage into forks and boil in salted water with a bay leaf. After 10 minutes, take it out, do not pour out the broth.
Separately, simmer ½ chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic in water with olive oil for 3-5 minutes.
Pour cabbage broth over 250 g of rice and cook until tender.
Add cauliflower, stewed vegetables, spices.

When serving, sprinkle with chopped green onions.

In the microwave

This is a quick, healthy microwave cauliflower recipe that has a nice creamy, tangy flavor.

Cooking steps:

Pour water over the cabbage head, disassembled into inflorescences, cover with a lid, cook in a microwave oven under the lid at medium power for 8-10 minutes.
Separately mix 100 ml of low-fat sour cream, 1 tsp. mustard, chopped green onions, and spices.
Salt the finished cabbage, drain the water, pour in the sauce, sprinkle with 150 g of cheese (low-fat).
Place in the microwave, bake for 3-5 minutes without a lid.

Decorate a dietary dish with herbs.

Baked with milk sauce

This dietary dish has an unusual taste and aroma. This recipe is simple and quick, so even a novice housewife can do it.

Cooking instructions:

Boil 250 g of cabbage in salted boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain the water.
Brush the inflorescences with yolk and sprinkle with nutmeg.
Place the cabbage on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
Fry 40 g of flour in a non-stick frying pan until creamy, slowly pour 500 ml of milk into it, stirring constantly.
Add salt, chopped dill, simmer for 4 minutes, stirring.
When the sauce thickens, remove it.
Pour over the cabbage, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, bake at 180 degrees until done.

The delicious dietary dish is ready.

Preparation:

Disassemble the cabbage into florets and boil in boiling water for 7 minutes. Then take it out and leave it to cool.
Grease the bottom of the pots with softened butter and place the cabbage in them.
Using a fork, beat the eggs with sour cream and a pinch of salt.
Pour the resulting mixture over the cabbage, sprinkle grated cheese on top.
Place the pots in an oven preheated to 200 degrees and bake for 25 minutes until a light brown cheese crust forms.

Cauliflower in PP batter

Everyone knows that fried foods contain more calories than boiled or baked ones. But how to make a dish in batter without adding a large amount of vegetable oil? Everything is very simple! Let's prepare a dietary recipe in batter in the oven!

The recipe is incredibly simple!

1 cauliflower. We disassemble it into inflorescences. And boil for about 3 minutes in salted water.
2 tablespoons flour. We use only whole grain flour. It contains more useful substances. If you don’t have such flour, you can take oatmeal and grind it in a coffee grinder. You will get real oatmeal.
2 eggs. Whisk.
Spices to taste.

Let's prepare pp batter! Combine the egg and flour, add your favorite spices. Make sure there are no lumps. Now you need to roll each piece in this batter. Place everything on a baking sheet and bake. As soon as a golden crust forms, our pp recipe is ready!

Important! High fiber diets have always been considered the first aid in the fight against obesity.

Over the course of 30 years, studies have shown that consuming fiber not only helps you lose weight, but also affects glycemic control and promotes the production of a hormone that is responsible for suppressing hunger. Of course, this is not a complete panacea for obesity, but eating the right amount of vegetables is very important! 5

Cabbage cutlets

Preparation:

Disassemble the cabbage into inflorescences, boil over low heat for 25 minutes, drain and leave to drain in a colander for 1 hour.
Mash the dry cabbage with a fork or pass through a meat grinder; if liquid appears, it must be drained.
Then you need to add breadcrumbs, herbs, cheese, eggs, pepper, and salt to the cabbage. To stir thoroughly.
With wet hands, form cutlets from the resulting mass, roll in flour and fry in a frying pan on both sides until a crust appears.
They can be served with sour cream and vegetable salad.

Broccoli and cauliflower in a wok

Photo: Restaurant Mr. Lee

Recipe by Alexander Gololobov, chef of the restaurant Mr. Lee

150 g broccoli
150 g cauliflower
10 g chili pepper
5 g garlic
30 ml soy sauce
5 g sugar
5 g sesame oil
5 g green onions
2 g toasted sesame seeds
30 ml vegetable oil

Step 1. Divide the broccoli and cauliflower into florets and blanch for two minutes in boiling salted water.

Step 2. Cut the chili pepper into strips, finely chop the green onions and garlic.

Step 3. In a hot frying pan, lightly fry the onion and garlic in vegetable oil, add soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Reduce and add cauliflower, chilli and broccoli. Stir lightly.

Step 4. When serving, garnish with green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

Preparation:

Cut the pepper, tomato and onion into small cubes, crush the garlic and chop finely.
Add vegetables to the minced meat and mix thoroughly.
Peel the potatoes and cut into thin slices.
Grease a baking dish with vegetable oil, place potatoes and salt on it, lay out a layer of minced meat, and put cabbage on top of it.
Grate the cheese on a fine grater and mix with sour cream, grease the cabbage with this mixture, sprinkle breadcrumbs on top.
Place the mold in the oven, preheated to 200 degrees. Bake until done, you can check this with a wooden toothpick; if, after piercing the casserole, it remains dry, then the dish is ready!

How to cook?

Cauliflower puree

One of the simplest recipes for making cauliflower puree, suitable even for feeding infants, can be prepared very simply.

Compound:

cauliflower - 1 head;
pasteurized milk - 0.5 cups;
butter - 2 tablespoons;
salt to taste.

Before cooking, cabbage is separated into inflorescences. Then you need to rinse them thoroughly and fill them with lightly salted water for half an hour. This will get rid of insects that may be in the cabbage.

If you plan to use frozen cabbage, then you should not wash it. In addition, it can be placed in salted water for 30-40 minutes without immediately defrosting. This will not harm the taste of the dish and will not affect the cooking process.

Boil water in an enamel saucepan. To prevent loss of large amounts of vitamin C, which is contained in cabbage, do not use aluminum cookware for cooking.
Immerse the inflorescences, disassembled and pre-soaked in salted water, into boiling water (make sure that the water completely covers the inflorescences) and close with a lid. The cooking time depends on what type of cabbage you are using. Usually it is cooked for 7 to 15 minutes. When cooking, focus on the softness of the inflorescences. It's always better to undercook than to overcook. Overcooked inflorescences will turn into mush during cooking.
Important: the decoction resulting from cooking the vegetable should not be drained. It can be useful for making purees and can also be used as a base for vegetable soups.
Remove the boiled inflorescences, cool and grind with a blender. Add warm milk, butter and a pinch of salt to the resulting mass. Pass through the blender again.

If you are cooking for your baby or following a healthy diet, you should use table salt carefully. Large amounts of salt are harmful to health. Ideally, you don’t need to add salt to the finished cauliflower puree. Milk can also be replaced with low-fat cream.

Cauliflower puree with cottage cheese

Cottage cheese will not only enrich your puree with calcium, but also increase its calorie content. For cooking, it is best to use low-fat cottage cheese (from 2 to 5%).

Products:

0.5 kg cauliflower;
50 g low-fat cottage cheese;
0.5 l of milk;
1 egg;
1 teaspoon turmeric;
a pinch of salt (pepper).

Preparation:

rinse, disassemble the cabbage into florets and place on the bottom of the pan;
pour the prepared inflorescences with milk and cook over low heat until soft for about 15-20 minutes (until the amount of milk is reduced by half), then turn off the heat;
using a blender, puree the cabbage directly in the pan;
prepare the eggs by separating the yolks from the whites, add the yolks, turmeric and cottage cheese to the puree;
add salt and pepper (optional);
Stir the contents of the pan and return to the heat, stirring constantly, cook over low heat until thickened (about 5 minutes).

When serving the finished dish, garnish with a sprig of parsley, dill, lettuce or spinach. It is not only beautiful, but also useful.

Cauliflower puree with melted cheese

Products:

0.7 kg cauliflower;
1 onion bulb;
2 processed cheeses (preferably the best quality);
2 cloves of garlic;
salt, pepper to taste;
a little olive oil.

If the finished puree is intended to be used in baby food, garlic and pepper can be omitted.

Preparation:

disassemble the cabbage into inflorescences and boil in salted water until soft (remember, if you use frozen cabbage, it should be immersed in boiling water);
finely chop the onion, grate the garlic or mash it using a press;
fry the onion in olive oil until golden brown;
While still warm, mix the boiled cabbage with fried onions and garlic, add processed cheese, salt, pepper and, using a blender, turn it into puree.

The finished puree should be airy and should not contain any lumps. Place the dish on a plate and garnish with any fresh herbs.

Cauliflower puree for dietary nutrition

This dish contains celery. Celery is very useful and necessary in the diet of those who watch their figure.

Compound:

600 g cauliflower;
300 g celery root.

There is no salt in the list of products, because the recipe is designed for dietary nutrition.

Preparation:

the prepared cabbage is disassembled into inflorescences, the celery is cut into small cubes;
Place the ingredients in the prepared pan and add water until it completely covers the vegetables;
vegetables are cooked over low heat for about 15-20 minutes;
pour the water into a cup (you will need it later) and grind the vegetables until puree is formed, while gradually adding the broth while whipping to achieve a delicate creamy consistency.

You can add various spices if you wish. But the more spices, the more your appetite is whetted, which means the more you will eat.