The Edible Flower

Can you imagine someone munching on flowers? I can't. But according to the Latin language, we've been ingesting flowers all along. Cauliflower, which literally means "stalk" and "flower," is a member of the Brassicaceae family of plants which includes vegetables like broccoli, kale, cabbage, turnips, and brussels sprouts. The white part we eat is actually the head of the underdeveloped, tender flower stems and buds. Cauliflower is not exactly the typical, beautiful, colorful flower we envision, but their flowery buds still have an important role in our healthy lives. For example, did you know that one serving of cauliflower has only 15 calories and 40% of your daily vitamin C? It also contains the chemical sulphorafane which helps reduce the risk of certain cancers. Oh, and its delicious.

As much as I love these little fun facts, I thought it would be more fun to hop in the kitchen and stir up fast and yummy dishes with cauliflower. So, I did!

The first dish I made was a cauliflower, pasta, and cheese gratin.

I first preheated the oven to 400 degrees. Then, I brought water to a boil in a large saucepan and added cauliflower till its tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Bring the remaining cooking liquid to a boil and cook the pasta.

Combine 1/4 cup flour and 1 cup flour (for one serving) and stir well with whisk. Stir in some thyme and a clove of garlic (chopped). Cook until thick! Remove from heat and stir in salt, pepper, cheddar cheese (1 cup), parmesan cheese (1/2 cup), and some chopped green onions.

Spoon the cauliflower mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top and place in over for about 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Cauliflower, pasta, and cheese gratin

It turned out to be a fast, easy and delicious dinner! The breadcrumbs were a great extra touch. Yum!





Another day this week, I decided to make a tasty snack with the remaining cauliflower.

Cauliflower Fritters, anyone?

While the cauliflower is cooking in boiling water, set aside a bowl for the batter mixture.

In the bowl, beat an egg with the flour (3-4 tbsp.), pecorino cheese (chopped, 4 tbsp.), and parsley. Drain the cauliflower, dip in the batter, and fry in the skillet in a generous amount of olive oil. When golden, dry on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and serve warm! Simply delicious! AND a healthy snack! The cauliflower fritters definitely hit the spot on a cold afternoon. Not only did they suppress my hunger, but they also led me away from unhealthy snacking (chips, cookies, or ya know, greasy cheese quesadillas...Yikes!). Try it! They are fast to make, require little ingredients, and like I said, are particularly tasty.

Cauliflower Fritters

Another fun fact before I end this blog posting....

Do you know why cauliflower is white? I do! Well, when the plant grows, the head is covered by heavy green leaves that shield it from sunlight. Therefore, the process of photosynthesis cannot happen and chlorophyl is not produced.

ALSO! Most of the cauliflower in the United States is produced by California...but CHINA is the largest worldwide producer of it. Surprise?

OK, ok. Enough of the lame cauliflower facts.

I dare you to try these fantastic cauliflower recipes. You won't be disappointed!
As Mark Twain once said: "Cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education."
Another incentive to eat this delectable flower? Eh, maybe. At least you'll know to try it before cabbage, anyways. Enjoy.

FLOWER POWER! :)

Less is More Ya'll

Well, it's the beginning of February and it feels like it's the end of April. The semester is in full swing now and despite the lack of free time in my schedule, I've still been cooking. A girl still has to eat you know! Although I haven't necessarily opened up any cookbooks or crossed off any recipes from my "to do" list, I have still been using the creative side of my brain to make some simple yet delicious meals this past week. I really tried to use all the ingredients I had bought from the grocery store earlier in the week, and to my delight, I used most of them interchangeably for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

One evening I decided to use my breadcrumbs and almonds as the main ingredients.

I took out a chicken breast from the refrigerator, smothered it in egg, and placed it in my parmesan cheese, chopped almonds, and bread crumb mixture. Meanwhile, as the olive oil was heating up in the frying pan on the stovetop, I began to prepare another pan. Along with my almond-crusted chicken breast, I would be having asparagus encrusted with bread crumbs topped with parmesan cheese drizzled with lime juice. I set the oven to 350 degrees. At that point, the olive oil was heated and I placed the almond chicken on the pan. I added a little salt and pepper for a extra kick of flavor. As the chicken was cooking, I started to cook some rice (in my roommates amazing rice cooker) and placed the asparagus in the oven. It would only take fifteen minutes before  a delicious meal was placed in front of me.

I only used a handful of ingredients but the chicken and asparagus turned out to be so flavorful and delicious.
All it took for this dinner was a chicken breast, chopped almonds, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of rice, and some lemon juice. Plain and simple. But SO good.

Breadcrumbs + parmesan cheese + almonds= deliciousness

Another night, I was in the mood for some soup. I had a lot of vegetables so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use them! I chopped up some carrots, mushrooms, onions, water chestnuts, spinach, and cilantro. All it took was a can of chicken broth, these vegetables, bow tie pasta, and parmesan cheese. In all honesty, this dinner took maybe twenty minutes to prepare and cook. And it was one of the best dinners I have made in a long time. My roommates even came out from their rooms in search of what smelled SO GOOD. They were astonished when I told them it was merely chicken noodle soup. Their response? "Wow, I never knew soup could smell THAT good." Well, it's the fresh vegetables that make this dish so tasty. No canned soup for me! As long as you have a can of chicken broth hidden away somewhere and some unused vegetables, you can make some delicious homemade soup for yourself. I guarantee the aroma of this fresh concoction will surprise you.

chicken both + vegetables + bow tie pasta= tasty soup!

For lunch one day, I decided to make it even more simpler and make it a 1/2 salad & sandwich day.
I'm sure all of you know how to make a sandwich-- take two slices of bread, some tomato, avocado, spinach, mustard, turkey..blah blah blah. Now, to make a salad...This may seem more complicated to some. But in reality it's so incredibly fun! Here's what you do: Grab a handful of spinach, arugula, romaine, or whatever you prefer and literally find whatever is in your refrigerator or pantry and toss it in there. It makes it more fun this way! For instance, I tossed some goat cheese, parmesan cheese, mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds, and sliced almonds. All simple ingredients tossed together with some balsamic vinaigrette to make a scrumptious, healthy lunch. Salads don't have to be boring or tasteless!!!

spinach + sunflower seeds + almonds + goat cheese + mandarin oranges + parmesan cheese = Salad Heaven ;)

  

Another dinner I made recently? La pizza! Although I would prefer to make my own crust, I ended up stopping my local mart and buying some already pre-made crusts. Tsk tsk, I know...But hey I'm still a full time student! Perhaps on a weekend I whip out the flour and yeast ;) Anyways, I simply smothered the crust with red sauce, tons of mozzarella cheese, and finally added some spinach. I put it in the oven for 10 minutes and voila! Warm, cheesy, delicious pizza!! It's so easy. You should try it!

Crust + Sauce + mozzarella cheese + spinach = Personal pizza

So, if you're a student or simply a person who isn't a huge cook but wants to eat healthier, here's a tip: LESS IS MORE. Some people automatically think the more the ingredients, the more flavorful. This is such a myth. Some dishes are just better with less ingredients. The flavor of each additive really does pop in your mouth. So before you go all crazy with the complex cookbooks, I'd try and  use your own creativity and see if you can use all your groceries and produce you bought that week. You'd be surprised what you can come up with-- in one week's time you can cook a pizza, salad, soup, and some tasty chicken with most of the same ingredients! Challenge yourself!