What’s in the Garden? Cauliflower

As I stated in an earlier post, I didn’t plant much of a fall garden.  After walking in the garden today,  I wish I had planted more cauliflower.  Although I have tried planting cauliflower in the past couple of years, I had not been very successful.  I would wait for them to grow to a size similar to what I purchase in grocery stores.  This never happened.  The heads of cauliflower were small and if I waited for them to grow larger they became too mature and began to separate.  My harvests were small and of lower quality than I hoped for.   Looking at the picture of this year’s cauliflower, I am sure that you will agree that my cauliflower was a success this year and that is why I wish I had planted more.

Today I harvested my cauliflower.  I cut the leaves off of the heads of cauliflower.  I gave the leaves to my composting workers (my chickens).  If I didn’t have chickens I would have thrown them into a compost pile.  My goal is for the garden to feed my family and chickens and for the chickens to feed our garden in return.

After bringing the cauliflower into the house, I cut them into pieces and put them into the sink that I had filled with water.  After I rinsed them, I put them on the counter and allowed them to drain.

I used to only eat cauliflower steamed or raw with a dip, but that has changed a lot in the last year an a half.  In an effort to eat healthier, I now have replaced potatoes and rice in many recipes with cauliflower.   You can check out the posts for my recipes for cauliflower fried rice and cauliflower mash.   In the future, I will share my recipes for cauliflower pizza and cauliflower chowder.  Since my recipes call for the cauliflower to be riced, I like to keep cauliflower in the freezer prepped and ready for fast and easy meals.

Today I took my six heads of cauliflower and chopped them in the food processor until they resemble grains of rice.  Then I put one pound of cauliflower rice in each freezer bag, labeled the bags and placed in the freezer.

If your 2017 goal is to eat healthier and after a week of trying you find yourself craving pizza, my next post “What’s Cooking- Cauliflower Pizza” will give you a healthier option.

–Penny