While all colors of fruits and vegetables contribute to our health, one color is often overlooked: white. Boasting some of the best nutrition of any white food is cauliflower. Its mild flavor yet meaty texture makes it extremely versatile. This new year, make cauliflower your go-to.
About Cauliflower
Cauliflower belongs to the Brassica genus of vegetables, along with broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale — all nutrition powerhouses. These veggies have high amounts of glucosinolates, a cancer-preventing substance. If you regularly eat these brassica vegetables you have less risk of developing cancer, especially lung, stomach, colon, and rectal cancer.
Along with glucosinolates, a cup of cauliflower contains almost a whole day’s worth of vitamin C — move over oranges! It’ll also hit you with a decent amount of vitamin K and folate. Folate is especially important. It helps our body’s cells go about their normal functions, and a deficiency can cause anemia For women who are trying to get pregnant, folate is crucial for the baby’s spine development in the first few days after conception. To prevent cancer and chronic diseases, eating foods like cauliflower with a variety of vitamins and minerals is crucial. Foods are important; we just don’t see the same cancer preventing effect from taking vitamin supplements [i][ii].
Cauliflower Recipes
The humblest of the brassicas is having a culinary moment. Cauliflower is finally being celebrated in recipes everywhere — cauliflower steaks, cauliflower cutlets, buffalo cauliflower, cauliflower “rice,” cauliflower tortillas, mashed cauliflower — the list goes on and on.
This delicious trend replaces less healthy foods like fatty meats and refined grains with cancer-kicking cauliflower. But cauliflower doesn’t always have to be smothered in sauce or placed as a stand-in for other foods. Cauliflower’s delicate flavor shines on its own. Try this whimsical yet beautiful recipe for whole roasted cauliflower from Jamie Oliver [iii] [iv].