This blog post is also available in German.
You have bought cauliflower to create something delicious out of it? But always these annoying leftovers. Most of us only use the florets. The leaves and the stalk end up in the garbage or on the compost. Does this sound familiar to you? Maybe you’ve already thought about how you could actually use all parts of a cauliflower? Maybe you didn`t and just disposed the remains like it`s the most normal thing in the world. Or you already got to the point where you want to reduce your cauliflower waste? No matter which group you belong to, as of today not a single piece of your cauliflower will end up in the trash. I’ve put together a few tips for you on what you can do with the leftovers. There’s also a delicious quiche recipe with a crunchy crust made from cauliflower leftovers.
The same tips and ideas apply to broccoli as well, just by the way.
Why you should use all parts of a cauliflower?
If you`re not aware of the fact that you can also eat the stalk and the leaves of the cauliflower, I`ll briefly explain why you definitely should. On the one hand, the cauliflower stalk is extremely nutritious and healthy. The stalk contains the same vitamins and minerals as the florets. These include potassium, iron, calcium, vitamin A, C and E, to name but a few.
It`s also a complete waste of food to dispose of a perfect stalk and leaves. An edible part of the vegetable simply ends up in the bin. Out of respect for our planet, the environment and the fact that other people suffer from hunger, you should definitely use all parts of a cauliflower.
10 tips on how to use all parts of a cauliflower
- Process the whole cauliflower
This works wonderfully for most dishes. For soups, casseroles, stir fry, etc. you can simply use the whole cauliflower, including leaves and stalk. - Cook broth from the leftovers
Freeze the stalk and leaves together with other vegetable remains and boil them into a delicious vegetable broth. Alternatively, you can cut the vegetable remains into small pieces, dry them and use them to make broth powder. - Put it all in a smoothie
Simply process the remains of the cauliflower with fruits into a smoothie. - Snack the stalk
You can easily snack the stalk in raw form if you like the taste. - Crispy topping from the cauliflower leaves
You can marinate the leaves and bake them crispy in the oven. This makes a really delicious topping for other dishes. - Make dough
You can boil the cauliflower remains and process them into dough. Pizza or quiche with cauliflower crust are totally delicious. Today’s quiche recipe consists of exactly such a crust. I can also imagine for cauliflower bread to be really tasty. - Veggieballs, vegetable balls & Co.
Alternatively to tip 6 you can cook the cauliflower remains and process them into cauliflower fritters, veggie balls or falafel. - It all comes down to the sauce
You can also process the leftovers into a hearty sauce. All you need is a blender, broth and some vegetable cream. Tastes delicious with pasta or as a substitute for béchamel. - Slice into the salad
If you like cauliflower raw, you can add the stalk and leaves into your salad. Grind or chop them finely for that purpose. - Cook soup
If you have enough leftovers, you can make a delicious cauliflower soup.
All the tips mentioned here can also be applied to broccoli.
Quiche from cauliflower remains
As you might have guessed from the title, there’s a vegan recipe for tip 6 today: a tasty quiche with a cauliflower crust, a topping of boiled potatoes and a delicious creamy cauliflower bechamel (could almost pass as tip 8). The quiche tastes super delicious, is hearty, simply prepared and goes perfectly with the cooler autumn days. And since cauliflower is still in season until the end of November, you will definitely have plenty of time to try this quiche recipe.
The most important thing if you want to use your cauliflower completely and process the leftovers into dough, are the following. You should cook the cauliflower remains before processing them into the dough. Then they are easier to puree and have a better consistency. After mashing, the liquid must be drained off. If your cauliflower cake is too damp/wet, your quiche dough will become mushy and won`t have any crunch. Therefore I recommend to put the pureed cauliflower remains into a cotton cloth and wring out the liquid. Do not throw away the drained liquid! You can boil the béchamel sauce from it! It gives the quiche that certain hearty oomph.
Now you know everything you need to know to bake the quiche and how to use all parts of a cauliflower. So I hope that in the future you will no longer have to produce any residual waste when cooking with cauliflower or broccoli.
See you soon
Sarah
Potato Quiche with Cauliflower Crust
Equipment
- blender or hand held blender
Ingredients
- 150 g cauliflower remains organic
- 150 g spelt flour organic
- 1/2 tsp salt organic
- 50 g vegan margarine organic
- 1-2 tbsp cauliflower liquid
- 25 g vegan margarine for the béchamel, organic
- 2 tbsp flour organic
- 200 ml Cauliflower liquid
- 50 ml vegetable cream organic
- 1/2 tsp salt organic
- 1 pinch of nutmeg organic
- 1 pinch of white pepper organic
- 500 g boiled potatoes or 250g boiled potatoes & courgettes each organic
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes, put them in a pan and cook for about 20 minutes. Drain the water and let the potatoes cool down. Alternatively, boiled potatoes from the previous day can be used.
- Cook the cauliflower remains in water for about 10 to 15 minutes until soft. Pour the boiled cauliflower remains into the mixer with a little bit of the cooking water and puree finely. Pour the puree into a cotton cloth and wring out the liquid. Put the liquid aside for the béchamel sauce.
- ADD the cauliflower mixture with spelt flour, salt and vegan margarine in a bowl. Mix everything into a dough. If the dough is too dry, add a little water or cauliflower liquid. Cover the bowl and put the dough in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 220° Celsius.
- In the meantime, prepare the béchamel sauce. Melt 25g margarine in a pan. Add the flour and mix well until the mixture is yellowish-lumpy. Then add the cauliflower liquid and the cream in several steps, stirring well to avoid lumps. Bring the béchamel sauce to the boil briefly and set aside. Season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg.
- Roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface, transfer into a cake tin and press down well. Use a fork to make a tight piercing in the base of the dough. Blind bake the cake dough on the lowest groove of the oven for approx. 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, cut the potatoes into thin slices.
- Remove the cake dough from the oven. Spread the potato slices on the cake base and pour the béchamel sauce over the quiche. Place in the oven again for about 15-20 minutes. If you want to brown the béchamel sauce a little, bake the cake on the top groove for the last 5 minutes.