In my Veg Box: Cauliflowers – Recipe Linky Challenge

Am back in May with another exciting challenge! This month, I am guest hosting In My Veg Box, an event run by Nayna Kanabar of Citrus Spice UK. This month’s theme is Cauliflowers.

Cauliflower – ”The kale of 2014, the budget-friendly superfood, the most underrated vegetable” is what the Huff Post, Canada mentions in a recent article about the 10 health benefits of cauliflower.

Did you know that Cauliflower is an aid to weight loss? Yes! That’s why it is the new kale and tastes much better too, don’t you think? My favourite new way to use cauliflower creatively is by shredding it in a food processor and cooking it with some water in a microwave as a replacement for rice.

Cauliflower is bursting with various vitamins like  Vit B and C, potassium and phosphorous that can support your body’s repair and maintenance of the nervous system, immune system, muscles and bones.

Its name is from the Latin caulis (cabbage) and flower.

A brassica, like cabbage and broccoli, cauliflower is a mass of tiny, tightly packed flower heads (called curds), which grow from a thick central stem to form a single, round head, cupped by green leaves. It has a firm, almost waxy texture, and a mild, delicate flavour. Most cauliflowers are white, but it’s also possible to find green and purple varieties, as well as the sweeter Romanesco cauliflower, with its distinctive pointed florets.The orange cauliflower is also rich in beta-carotene and vitamin A.

I tasted the orange and purple coloured variants of cauliflower for the first time a few years back and my love affair with the beautiful Romanesco cauliflower has only just begun! Did you know that the English call romanesco – broccoli, the French – cabbage and the Germans and the Poles – cauliflower. Some of the undecided place it somewhere between broccoli and cauliflower. Taking into account its shape, romanesco rosettes bring to mind the pyramids or minaret towers, the theory, that it fell out of a flying saucer would seem to be rather interesting.

According to the BBC Good Food Guide:  Like all brassicas, cauliflower smells very unpleasant if overcooked, so brief cooking is essential.

With me and my husband, cauliflower and green peas, bhaji made using a simple hand-me-down recipe from my Aai (mother in Marathi, my mother tongue) is a firm favourite. I make it at least once a week. My Aai, my sister and her kids love it too, we are a veggie-friendly family that way!

If all this has not put you in the mood for cooking up something interesting or simple and easy with cauliflower then what will?! 😉

So get cooking, clicking and link up but first a few rules! I know, I know RULES. But  I promise the rules are dead easy to follow!

Rules to Participate:

1. Please prepare any vegetarian recipes using Cauliflowers and link your dish to the linky code below. You will need to enter the name of your dish, as well as the URL of your blog.
2. The current theme is CAULIFLOWER.
3. You must link this post to Travelsfortaste and to Citrus Spice UK.
4. Use of the logo is not mandatory but it helps to spread the word if you can use it.
5. Multiple entries are allowed.
6. Archived entries are also allowed, only if they are re-posted and updated with this event link, as well as the Citrus Spice UK link.
7. Recipes must be added to the linky by 31st May 2014.

In the event of any problems with using the linky code, please email me your entry to manjiri.chitnis@gmail.com. Please include your name, recipe name, URL and an image no larger than 300 pixels.

Thank you! Can’t wait to see a variety of recipes that I am sure are possible with the humble cauliflower! Get Cooking Bloggers!

References: Wiki, Huffington Post Canada

In my veg Box – Theme Cauliflowers – all entries.