It seems that the health world has found yet another way to surprise us by making sneaking veggies into food a trend. Remember the days when adding spinach to a smoothie was the in-thing? This year it’s all about creamy cauliflower smoothies!
By Jana du Plessis
MAKING PLANS
Yes, we do realise what we just said. The cruciferous cauliflower is creaming up smoothies like never before. The notion started as a way to create a smoothie that still has a wonderfully thick consistency, but doesn’t always rely on bananas. Because let’s be real, we can only tolerate the taste of banana for so long before craving something else. Plus, some people are allergic to this tropical fruit.
MIMICKING MADNESS
The great thing about cauliflower is that it’s relatively neutral in taste, so it doesn’t overwhelm the rest of your smoothie’s flavours. If you add other fruit and/or flavourings like cacao, cinnamon and ginger, the veggie taste will easily be masked. Simply blend steamed or boiled cauliflower together with your other ingredients and voila – a thickshake without any of the sugar and cream.
CAULI-POWER
If you are still not convinced, perhaps the nutritional benefits of cauliflower will persuade you. Cauliflower forms part of the cruciferous veggie family which means it’s loaded with fibre to fill you up and keep your digestive system in top form. Then there are the antioxidants that provide the body with plenty of phytonutrients and glucosinolates which fight inflammation as well as cardiovascular disease. Also get some of your daily dose of vitamins C and K and folate as well as a bit of protein by blending it up in your smoothie mix.
And if cauliflower in a smoothie isn’t your thing, the health benefits are still too good to pass up, so consider whipping up one of our delicious cauli meals instead
1. Cauliflower pizza with Greek lamb
2. Bean and cauliflower breyani
3. Pumpkin-cauli casserole with pumpkin bread
