Geting Creative with Cauliflower

So lately I have been experimenting with new recipes and

some of them have included cauliflower (pizza, fried rice,

mashed potatoes) so I thought I would share the health

benefits of what this cruciferous vegetable has to offer.

Nutrition Facts

1 cup of raw cauliflower provides 86% daily value for vitamin

C. 21% DV for Vitamin K, 15% DV for folate, 11% DV for

choline, 10% DV for vitamin B6, and less than 10% DV for

potassium, fiber, manganese, molybdenum, vitamin B5,

tryptophan, phosphorus, protein, magnesium, vitamin B2, B1,

B3, and iron.  One cup of raw cauliflower is only 25 calories.

Health Benefits

Cauliflower helps to prevent cancer, Crohn’s disease, IBS,

insulin resistence, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, type 2

diabetes and ulcerative colits by stimulating the body’s detox

system, antioxidant system and anti-inflammatory system. 

The powerful phytonutrients that promotes detoxification are

glucosinolates.  We all know vitamin C is a bad-a**

antioxidant and cauliflower is full of it.  Vitamin K acts as a 

regulator of our inflammatory response. 

Cauliflower prevents chronic oxidative stress to our body. 

Protect your heart by eating cauliflower or other cruciferous

vegetables 3 times per week.  Digestive health is restored

from cauliflower due to the fiber content and sulforaphane

which helps to protect the lining of our stomachs. 

The Healthiest Way of Cooking Cauliflower

Sauteeing cauliflower allows for concentrated nutrient retention. Begin by cutting cauliflower florets into quarters and let sit for at least 5 minutes to enhance its health-promoting benefits. To Healthy Sauté cauliflower, heat 5 TBS of broth (vegetable or chicken) or water in a stainless steel skillet. Once bubbles begin to form add cauliflower florets (cut into quarters) and turmeric, cover, and Healthy Sauté for 5 minutes.

Reference: www.whfoods.com

Colors of Cauliflower

Purple

• Purple cauliflower has deep purple florets and large, light green leaves that fan outward. It tastes similar to standard white cauliflower and cooks quickly. This type can change between purple and green when it's cooked. Choose purple cauliflower if you want more variety and color in your salads. Try different varieties such as Violet Queen Hybrid or Purple Sicily.

Yellow

• Yellow cauliflower displays bright yellow, orange, or a combination of both colors. The taste is similar to standard cauliflower. The one main variety of yellow cauliflower is called Cheddar. This yellow species has much more beta-carotene than other types. It also turns bright yellow when cooked.

Reference: www.ehow.com

Low Carb Fried "Rice"

My sister-in-law introduced me to this recipe so I had to do some research and get cooking.  Pinterest is my new favorite place to find recipes.  I created this recipe by looking at other Cauliflower fried rice recipes online.  I made it tonight for the first time and it was AMAZING!! (August 2012)

Cauliflower Fried Rice

Ingredients

1 T. toasted sesame seed oil - more or none if you'd like; I just used misto spray oil when I felt the pan needed more oil because I felt one tablespoon of oil was plenty (see recipes tab if you don't know what a misto spray is)
3-4 cups raw riced cauliflower - I had a large cauliflower head and used my food processor to pulse the florets until they resembled quinoa or rice. The cauliflower yielded 5-6 cups of riced cauliflower so I am saving the rest to make a cauliflower crust pizza (previous blog post if you are interested)
Green onions (scallions, small bunch) - white and green parts
1 T. minced garlic - jarred or fresh
1-2 cups Mixed vegetables (mine was a frozen mix of peas, corn, lima beans, carrots, and green beans) and any fresh vegetables you like - I recently used fresh mushrooms and red bell peppers
2 eggs - Cage free please, want to save of fat and cholesterol then just go with the whites. If you are Plant-based then skip the eggs and crumble 1/2 block of pressed firm tofu and add tumeric to give it a nice yellow color.
Trader Joes Sprouted Baked Savory tofu (one of my favorites!) - I used one block; or you can add chicken, pork, shrimp, etc
3 T. Braggs soy protein - you can use soy sauce, this has amino acids so of course I'm intrigued
1 T. low sodium Tamari - I could probably omit this extra soy, too much sodium!!
2 T. toasted sesame seeds
1 tsp. Garlic powder 

Directions

Pulse cauliflower florets until yields quinoa/rice consistency
Saute garlic and white parts of sliced scallions in sesame oil
Add riced cauliflower and cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes.
Add soy sauce/tamari and garlic powder
Add frozen and/or fresh vegetables
Cook for another few minutes until vegetables are cooked through
Add sliced green scallions
In a separate pan, cook the meat/tofu
If using eggs, push the fried "rice" aside to make room to cook two eggs - I used olive oil spray to coat the pan and fried two eggs and scrambled them in the pan and once they were cooked through, I combined them with "fried rice"
Add cooked meat/tofu and voila dinner is served!  Oh yeah, if you have toasted sesame seeds sprinkle on top of final dish.

So this dinner is full of yummy veggies and protein.  A perfect compliment to any healthy lifestyle. 

According to Spark People Recipe Calculator, below is the nutrition breakdown for the recipe above, minus the toasted sesame seeds.  My recipe yielded 3 servings.  So the information below is for one serving which was probably about 1.5 to 2 cups per serving. 

Spark People didn't have my exact tofu so the nutrition info is an estimate. 

So to summarize, one serving of my Cauliflower fried rice (with tofu and egg) is about 240 calories, 14 grams of fat (from the oil, eggs, tofu), 25 grams carbohydrates, 22 grams protein. 

The above recipe without the flavored tofu and eggs. I substituted 1/2 block of crumbled tofu for the eggs to make this vegan and added the mushrooms and red bell peppers and toasted sesame seeds. This recipe provides 230 calories, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 9 grams of fat, 14 grams of protein, 8 grams of fiber, 972 grams of sodium (too high so just omit 1 tbs of liquid aminos!)

A typical fried rice recipe for only one cup yields 330-370 calories, 12-14 grams of fat, 40-50 grams carbohydrates, 12 grams protein. 

With my recipes, you saved yourself over 100 calories, 25 grams of carbs and got double the high quality protein!

FYI, one serving of Panda Express fried rice provides 530 calories, 16 grams of fat, 82 grams of carbs, 12 grams of protein, ouch!

My recipe was still high in sodium and fat for my liking, so next time I will go without the Tamari and oil and see how that tastes : )  Maybe I'll misto spray the sesame oil instead.

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
3 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		242.7
Total Fat		13.5 g
	Saturated Fat	2.4 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	5.4 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	4.2 g
Cholesterol		123.3 mg
Sodium		1,456.9 mg
Potassium		714.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate		25.2 g
	Dietary Fiber	8.7 g
	Sugars	4.8 g
Protein		21.7 g

Vitamin A	42.8 %
Vitamin B-12	5.3 %
Vitamin B-6	24.0 %
Vitamin C	126.3 %
Vitamin D	6.7 %
Vitamin E	1.4 %
Calcium	44.3 %
Copper	15.4 %
Folate	33.5 %
Iron	19.8 %
Magnesium	15.5 %
Manganese	49.3 %
Niacin	6.9 %
Pantothenic Acid	10.5 %
Phosphorus	25.5 %
Riboflavin	17.4 %
Selenium	15.5 %
Thiamin	12.8 %
Zinc	12.2 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.