Fresh cauliflower looks crisp, from the center curds to the surrounding leaves. Originally sold in white, it is increasingly available in golden-yellow, green, and purple. Romanescu cauliflower looks like a huge cluster of light-green cones (the most popular Romanesco variety is called “Minaret” because of its unusual shape).
What to Look For:
1. Crisp curds, with no black marks or signs that curds have been trimmed (even tiny black spots are signs of beginning mold).
2. Heavy for its size. This tells you the cauliflower is at its peak of flavor.
3. Crisp surrounding leaves, again a sign of freshness.
Cauliflower Storage and Preparation Tips:
1. Refrigerate in original wrapping until ready to use (within 2 days)
2. If storing longer, remove outer leaves and core; rinse, wrap in paper towel and store plastic bag. Use as soon as possible.
3. For most recipes, cut in florets, with stems as much the same size as possible, to facilitate even cooking.
Cooking with Cauliflower:
Like many vegetables, cauliflower benefits from quick cooking, thus retaining vitamins and other healthy nutrients. Five to eight minutes of steaming, stir-frying, or boiling in a small amount of water (1 inch) will produce tender curds and crisp-tender stems. Cauliflower steamed, in florets or whole, is then ready to be oven-warmed if being served in a cheese, mustard, cream or curry sauce.
Overcooked cauliflower is neither healthy nor tasty. Texture becomes mushy, and overcooking releases sulfur compounds that create an unappetizing odor.
Cauliflower is an important element of Asian and Indian cuisines. Stir-fried in a little oil with a light dressing of rice-wine vinegar and soy sauce, or steamed and then warmed in a curry sauce, cauliflower becomes a delicious addition to a meal. European and American cuisines pair lightly steamed cauliflower with peas and a few buttered bread-crumbs. Increasingly, cauliflower puree has become a low-calorie substitute for mashed potatoes.
Cauliflower Nutrition Highlights:
Cauliflower is a good source of Vitamin C and folate, a B-vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6, B12) essential to healthy cell-development. Further, it is a good source of lutein, which may assist in eye-health. It also contains phytostols, a group of compounds recently determined to play a role in cancer-prevention. It contains 2.5 grams of fiber per 100 grams (roughly 1 cup).