Cauliflower is a love-hate vegetable for many people. They hate its cabbage-y taste and strange curdlike texture, or they love it in its many forms. We are among the latter, and we think there are so many ways to enjoy cauliflower that if you don't like it yet, you just haven't had it properly done. Here are five ways to convert cauliflower haters.
- In a crunchy salad or slaw - Like its green cousin the cabbage, cauliflower makes a fabulous salad. One of our favorite winter salads mixes it with fennel, white beans, and a tangy dressing for a marvelous mix of flavors and textures.
- Roasted until crispy - Whether it's plain or with toasty spice, roasted cauliflower is one of the best ways to enjoy this vegetable. Roast until crispy and caramelized, then toss with lemon and Parmesan. Delicious! Here are a few more ways to enjoy roasted cauliflower.
- Stewed with tomatoes - This braised cauliflower will help you see it in a whole new light. Creamy, tender, and so good with rice or pasta. Also try this chickpea stew with cauliflower. We also love curried cauliflower.
- Tossed with pasta - Cauliflower also makes a great topping for pasta. Here's a recipe that tosses it with toasted breadcrumbs and farfalle.
- Stir-fried with vegetables and ginger - Like in this recipe: Cauliflower with green beans and ginger.
Here are a few more good tips on cauliflower. What are some of your favorite ways to eat this crunchy, crackly, creamy vegetable?
• Basic Technique: How to Cut Cauliflower
• Another Garden Surprise: Hello, Cauliflower!
• Look! Purple and Orange Cauliflower
• In Season West Coast: Cauliflower
More 5 Ways to Eat Posts:
These posts are all ingredients paired with Social Workout's daily exercise over at their Fall Challenge.
(Images: Faith Durand)
On Saying No to Paleo: Why Eating Isn't One Size Fits All
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Elizabeth Apron fro...
Justin's Contemporary Contrast
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Soup! So easy and dairy-free: onions, garlic, cauliflower, chicken stock, emulsify. Serve with fresh pepper.
Yes... roasted cauliflower is the best!!
I ditto mcordua -- I used it as a cream substitute in a soup I made last week, delish.
I love cauliflower just about any way you can eat it. Raw with dip, steamed with salt and butter, in salads, roasted with olive oil then sprinkled with toasted black mustard seeds, sauteed in olive oil and salt and served with a splash of lemon juice, in veggie egg scramble... Yum.
West Town Tavern (Chicago) has a great cauliflower gratin recipe that I use all the time. My family will actually eat this!
(I like it in a nice curry, too)
My husband is a staunch cauliflower hater, but I can get him to eat it if I use it to make an aloo gobi with lots of garlic naan on the side.
keltrue, that gratin recipe looks AMAZING. Thanks for the link!
I love this recipe cauliflower steaks with cauliflower puree. It's so easy and a great way to showcase the versatility of this vegetable.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cauliflower-Steaks-with-Cauliflower-Puree-241351
Cauliflower risotto, with fried breadcrumbs/anchovies/chilli on top. From Jamie's Italy-Amazing.
Fried cauliflower fritters!
Soup - I made this one at the week-end.
Slowly saute leeks in 1/2 lb butter (or more). Add cauliflower and water (or delicate home made stock). Cook, emulsify. Pure white color and so delicate. I served it topped with salmon roe and freshly cracked black pepper.
Deb over at Smitten Kitchen has a wonderful recipe up:Cauliflower with Almonds, Raisins & Capers. I have all of the ingredients ready to make it tonight for dinner! It sounds like it's going to be woonnnnndddeerrrfuuuullll!
Cut up, raw, dipped in cocktail sauce with plenty of horseradish. (I don't like cocktail sauce unless it clears my sinuses.)
The only way I'll eat cauliflower is mashed made with lots of pepper, garlic, heavy whipping cream and chicken stock. Some of the recipes above look good, but cauliflower is one of the only veggies I just can't warm up to.
I'm with michelleb. Not a cauliflower lovah.
Like her, I will eat it mashed. I'm considering making M. F. K. Fisher's cauliflower gratin with a head my boyfriend bought before I moved in with him. It's just cauliflower, garlic, black pepper, heavy cream, and Gruyere. Cheese, garlic, and cream make everything better.
Top 3 for me: in a curry, steamed with polonaise, in a chicken soup.
Pureed and baked into mac and cheese (with cheddar and gruyere) or soup.
Roasted for sure... it's like candy. Vegetable candy. Yum!
Cauliflower and tarragon tart... use a little parmesan as well as plenty of pepper and no-one will refuse a slice!
http://www.cuisine.com.au/recipe/Cauliflower-and-tarragon-tart
Want to learn how to love cauliflower? Two words: aloo gobi. (Also known as Indian curried cauliflower and potatoes.) You won't be disappointed!
I could go on about cauliflower forever, but my favorite, recently discovered preparation is one with tahini sauce. It's a game-changer:
http://muchdependsondinner.blogspot.com/2009/04/cauliflower-three-ways.html
Mmm, roasted with curry powder. So, so, so, so good!, especially with capers.
ABreadADay.com
Sicilian style with raisins, garlic and anchovies...over pasta...yum.
Great in a red lentil curry:
http://onepot.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/red-lentil-cauliflower-curry-with-smoked-hot-paprika-3/
Oh my goodness, Emeril's roasted cauliflower was AMAZING! I served it over some greens, and it was such a comforting delicious meal! I think this was my first time to eat cauliflower cooked, and it sure wont be the last!
I never liked cauliflower until recently, I started using it in Mac & Cheese and I am now obsessed. I roasted some with Brussel Sprouts (which I also loathed) made a reduced sauce of soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and sesame seeds) and tossed it all together after roasting. Whoa!