Cauliflower is not in vain considered a dietary vegetable. Its low-calorie and easily digestible inflorescences contain a large number of valuable vitamins and minerals. In addition, it combines well with many products and serves as an excellent basis for cooking all kinds of soups, salads, casseroles and even cutlets. In today's article, you will find more than one interesting dietary cauliflower recipe.
General recommendations
To prepare tasty and healthy dishes, you should choose fresh cauliflower. When buying this vegetable, it is important to pay attention to its appearance. Of particular value are elastic heads of white with bright, tightly pressed leaves. Heads of green or gray color have a more coarse bitter taste and are not suitable for cooking.
Most quick recipes for cauliflower dishes require pre-boiling the vegetable. To do this, it is disassembled into individual bumps and briefly immersed in a pot of salt boiling water. Then the cabbage is thrown into a colander and used to prepare casseroles, mashed potatoes and other treats.
Many experienced chefs recommend keeping the raw head of cabbage bought in salt water. In these thirty minutes, the cabbage will be cleaned of contaminants and possible insects. To correctly separate the forks, it is placed on a kitchen board so that the inflorescences are at the bottom, and carefully cut into the middle of the trunk into smaller parts. If you plan to cook cauliflower in a double boiler, then you can add a few spices to the lower container with water. Thanks to this, the finished vegetable will be more tasty and aromatic.
Cheese casserole
A dish prepared using the technology described below will appeal even to those who cannot stand the taste of cauliflower. It turns out incredibly light and low in calories. Therefore, it can be used by those who follow their own figure. Like other delicious recipes with cauliflower, this option requires a certain set of components. This time you will need:
- A pound of cauliflower.
- 200 grams of any hard cheese.
- 3 chicken eggs.
- A pair of glasses of cow's milk.
- Salt and spices.
Cabbage is divided into inflorescences, washed and immersed in salted boiling water. Once the vegetable is cooked until half cooked, it is thrown into a colander, and then laid out in a refractory form, slightly greased with vegetable oil. All this is poured with a mixture of beaten eggs, milk, salt and spices, and sent to the oven. Preparing a cauliflower casserole in the oven. Recipes of such dishes do not require a long heat treatment. Therefore, after a quarter of an hour, the form is removed from the oven, sprinkled with its contents with grated cheese and returned back for another five minutes.
Broccoli casserole
This dish contains a large number of vegetables and herbs. Therefore, it turns out to be very easy and useful. Before preparing a dietary cauliflower, be sure to check if you have everything you need on hand. You will need:
- 300 grams of cauliflower.
- A pair of eggs.
- 200 grams of broccoli.
- 6 tablespoons of flour.
- 50 grams of spinach.
- A glass of low-fat kefir.
- ½ teaspoon of soda.
- Salt and spices.
Both varieties of cabbage are boiled in salted water and laid out in a refractory form. In a separate container combine flour and a little kefir. All mix well until smooth. The rest of the kefir with soda is poured into the resulting mass. Add chopped spinach and pour it all over to the vegetables. Preparing a cauliflower casserole in the oven. The recipes of such dishes are simple and varied. Therefore, you will surely find exactly what you like.
Risotto
Cauliflower goes well with rice. Therefore, it can make a very delicious vegetarian risotto. Since this dietary recipe for cauliflower involves the use of certain foods, make sure you have everything you need at your fingertips. Your house must have:
- 250 grams of rice.
- Small forks of cauliflower.
- 100 grams of butter.
- Onion.
- A pair of cloves of garlic.
- A bunch of green onions.
- Salt, bay leaf and spices.
Cabbage is divided into inflorescences, washed and poured with water. All this is salted, seasoned with bay leaves and spices and sent to the stove. Cooked cabbage is removed from the broth, and washed rice is put in its place. When the cereal is ready, add the onion into it. Cabbage and chopped parsley are sent there. All this is mixed and covered. Ten minutes later, the well-known risotto can be served for dinner.
Vegetable soup
This cauliflower diet recipe is interesting in that it lacks fats. Since this soup consists of vegetables alone, it is undesirable to cook it for the future. Otherwise, its components will quickly lose some of their valuable properties. To prepare this easy low-calorie lunch, you will need:
- 300 grams of cauliflower.
- Large bell pepper.
- 150 grams of zucchini.
- Onion.
- 100 grams of carrots.
- Some salt and fresh herbs.
Washed vegetables are peeled and cut into medium pieces. Zucchini, onions and carrots are immersed in a pot of boiling water and left over minimal heat. Ten minutes later, cabbage and pepper are laid there. All this is salted and continues to cook. After five minutes, the fire is turned off, the soup is poured into plates and sprinkled with chopped herbs. It can be served both hot and cold.
Tomato Soup
This dietary cauliflower recipe is so simple that any novice who has nothing to do with cooking will master it without any problems. On it you can cook a very useful low-calorie soup, which can be used by losing weight young ladies. To make a bright and tasty lunch, check in advance whether you have at hand:
- 400 grams of cauliflower.
- 200 g of ripe tomatoes.
- 100 g onions.
- 200 grams of carrots.
- Salt and spices.
All vegetables are washed and peeled. Dip onions and carrots in a pot of boiling water and leave over low heat. After eight minutes, cabbage and peeled tomatoes are laid in the same place. All this seasoned with spices and continue to cook. After about five minutes, the finished soup is removed from the burner and crushed using a blender to a puree state. Before serving, add a little chopped greens to it.
Steamed Cauliflower
This option will surely be appreciated by lovers of spicy low-calorie foods. This dish is prepared from simple and readily available ingredients sold in any supermarket. Before starting the process, make sure that at the right time you will have at your fingertips:
- Middle forks of cauliflower.
- 70 grams of mild cheese.
- Dijon mustard and fresh parsley.
By analogy with many other delicious cauliflower recipes, this option does not require too much time or special culinary knowledge from you. Head of cabbage is cut in half, washed, dried and laid on a grid of a double boiler filled with boiling water. Inflorescences are prepared for about ten minutes. As soon as they soften, they are greased with mustard, sprinkled with grated cheese and steamed again. The finished dish is laid out on a plate and served for dinner.
Steamed Cauliflower with Chicken
Using this technology, you can quickly and without any hassle make an easy and tasty dinner for the whole family. This low-calorie dish is optimal for both adult and children's menus. To create it you will need:
- 8 cabbage inflorescences.
- A pair of spoons of natural lemon juice.
- 350 grams of chicken.
- A pair of spoons of olive oil.
- A kilo of potatoes.
- ½ teaspoon coriander beans.
Washed and dried chicken is cut into not too large pieces, put in a bowl, seasoned with spices and left to marinate. After a quarter of an hour, potato wedges are added to the meat. All this is laid out on the lower tier of a double boiler. And at the top are washed cabbage inflorescences. All this is steamed for half an hour. Such cauliflower is cooked quickly and tasty. To make it more saturated and piquant, before serving it is poured with a sauce consisting of lemon juice, olive oil and coriander grains.
Cabbage with potted vegetables
This very interesting dish has a pleasant aroma. It consists practically of vegetables alone, so it can be called low-calorie. Like many other simple cauliflower recipes, this option involves the use of readily available ingredients. This time you will need:
- 200 grams of cauliflower.
- A pair of ripe tomatoes.
- Medium squash.
- 150 grams of broccoli.
- Large bell pepper (preferably red).
- 4 chicken eggs.
- 150 milliliters of milk.
- 200 grams of hard cheese.
- Salt, spices, olive oil and natural lemon juice.
Both types of cabbage are divided into inflorescences, scalded with boiling water and cut into not too large pieces. The remaining vegetables are washed, peeled and chopped. All this is distributed in portioned pots and poured with sauce made from olive oil, lemon juice, salt and spices. From above, the contents of the pots are covered with an omelet base consisting of beaten eggs, cow's milk and grated cheese. Bake the dish at standard temperature for about twenty minutes.