History of origin, composition and calorie content of cauliflower. Growing conditions, useful properties and contraindications. How to choose and cook this vegetable correctly? Separately, it should be said about the use of cabbage during pregnancy and lactation:
- Formation of the fetus … Folic acid ensures a high-quality course of pregnancy in all semesters, and also reduces the risk of birth defects in the baby.
- Natural laxative … Cauliflower relieves the expectant mother of problems with constipation and difficulty in digesting food.
- Reduces stretch marks … Natural collagen reduces the risk of stretch marks during childbirth.
Note! Cauliflower can be consumed during lactation. You can also use boiled cauliflower puree as your baby's first food.
Harm of cauliflower and contraindications for use
Despite all the useful properties, cauliflower has some precautions and contraindications for use that must be observed.
We use cauliflower with caution in such cases:
- Increased acidity … With this symptom of a malfunctioning stomach, this type of cabbage can cause heartburn.
- Intestinal cramps … Cauliflower can increase the frequency of these unpleasant symptoms.
- Peptic ulcer in remission … Stop consuming cabbage if irritation or pain occurs.
- Kidney disease or gout … The purines in this vegetable can increase the concentration of uric acid, which can aggravate the condition.
- Diseases of the thyroid gland … All cruciferous vegetables impair hormone production and can lead to goiter.
Absolute contraindications for eating cauliflower:
- Exacerbation of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract … Cauliflower with this diagnosis is contraindicated by doctors.
- Allergic reactions or fever … This vegetable improves metabolism, which allows harmful substances to penetrate into all parts of the body in such diseases.
- Postoperative period … It is not recommended to consume this cabbage after chest or abdominal surgery.
Note! Cauliflower should not be cooked in aluminum dishes: the metal is oxidized and its compounds are released into the product.
Cauliflower recipes
There are many ways to cook cauliflower, but when choosing this vegetable, you need to pay attention to several signs that will determine the quality of the product:
- The weight … The head of cauliflower must be strong and heavy, otherwise, due to the loose structure of the inflorescences, they will fall apart during cooking. You should also pay attention to the absence of soft areas: they will deteriorate in the first place.
- Foliage … A head of cabbage surrounded by leaves is the main indicator of freshness.
- Colour … Inflorescences can be from white to cream in color with a purple tint, but without dark spots, which indicate deterioration of the product.
- Temperature … Do not buy cauliflower that is on the regular counter: it can be stored for 7 to 10 days at 0 ° C
Cauliflower Recipes:
- Cauliflower baked with pork … Divide a medium head of cauliflower into small inflorescences, boil in boiling salted water for 7-8 minutes. Cut 500 grams of pork into medium pieces, fry in a dry frying pan until golden brown, put in a baking dish, greased with butter, cover with foil, making small holes, drink at 200 degrees for 15 minutes. At this time, mix the cabbage, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, salt, pepper and 150 grams of sour cream. Put the resulting mixture in a mold on the pork, sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake until golden brown without foil.
- Cabbage with sauce … Wash a large head of cauliflower, separate the inflorescences, pour cold water, bring to a boil, add salt and cook for 10-15 minutes, throw in a colander. Finely chop onions (100 grams) and 2 cloves of garlic, fry in a pan until golden brown. Cut 150 grams of ham into small cubes, add to the onion and garlic. Peel the tomatoes (350 grams), chop, add to the mixture in the pan. Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil and parsley there, season with salt and pepper, cook until light thick, remove from heat. Fry the cabbage in breadcrumbs, pour over the sauce, serve hot.
- "Curly mushrooms" … Divide the head of cauliflower into inflorescences, rinse in warm water and simmer for 15 minutes with half a glass of milk. In a separate skillet, simmer 500 grams of diced mushrooms. Add half a glass of milk, almost ready-made mushrooms to the cabbage, salt and add allspice to taste. Simmer until mushrooms and cabbage are tender. Sprinkle with grated cheese and herbs before serving.
If you do not have time to prepare complex dishes, then the cauliflower can be boiled in salted water and fried in batter or breading until golden brown in vegetable oil. This dish can be served with herbs and your favorite sauce. Cauliflower can be eaten raw, but so it weakly reveals its taste properties, so many chefs prefer to subject this vegetable to heat treatment.
Interesting facts about cauliflower
Popularly, this vegetable is often called "curd cabbage" because of its external resemblance to grain curd. It can also be noted that the cauliflower inflorescence vaguely resembles a lush tree, which can attract the attention of the child, trying to feed him this unfamiliar, but extremely useful vegetable.
When grown in Syria, cauliflower was not so early and had a bitter taste. The oriental scientist Avicenna more than a thousand years ago recommended the use of Syrian cabbage in winter to replenish vitamins. It was first described in Arab countries.
In the 12th century, this type of cabbage was introduced to Spain and Cyprus, and for many centuries it was the source of seeds for European countries. In the 14th century, some varieties began to be actively cultivated in England and the southern countries of Europe.
In Russia, cauliflower appeared during the reign of Catherine II, but was grown only by the upper classes, who bought seeds on the island of Malta for huge sums. Since this variety is very demanding on the climate, it did not become widespread until A. Bolotov developed a frost-resistant variety.
How to cook cauliflower - watch the video:
This "curly" vegetable occupies a high position in terms of useful elements and vitamins among all others. So, a high-quality product is quite often found on the shelves, so it is worth at least as an experiment to include it in your diet. Once you're convinced of the benefits of cauliflower, you'll want to cook it again.
