Cauliflower Puree

Cauliflower puree is a great vegetable side dish recipe to have handy for people who enjoy eating soft, mushy textures, which is a common sensory eating preference for people with sensory processing disorders. It’s a more nutritious substitute for mashed potatoes. Cauliflower has fewer calories and carbohydrates than potatoes. Cauliflower also has a lower glycemic index than potatoes, meaning that potatoes will raise blood sugar level faster than cauliflower.

Cauliflower puree is, texturally, nearly identical to mashed potatoes and tastes similarly as well but has a little more nuttiness that cauliflower is known for. If you're trying to incorporate this into your mashed potato-loving child's diet and think the taste difference will be too extreme, you can start by mixing the cauliflower puree and mashed potatoes together. If you want to try mixing both dishes together, make them separately and then combine the final products. Why? Potatoes cut to the same size as cauliflower will take longer to cook, plus potatoes cook best submerged in liquid and starting off in cold liquid, whereas cauliflower gets added to a small amount of already boiling liquid, covered, and steamed. As for pureeing, cauliflower must be put in a food processor or blender, whereas if you process potatoes in the same appliance, they will become gummy. Potatoes can be mashed with a masher, put through a ricer, or blended quickly with a hand mixer.

Cauliflower Puree Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into small pieces

• 1 cup vegetable broth

• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks

• Ground black pepper, to taste

 Supplies:

• Cutting board

• Knife

• Medium saucepan with lid

• Measuring cups and spoons

• Slotted spoon

• Food processor

Directions:

1. Cut cauliflower into small pieces or break into small pieces with your hands.

2. Measure 1 cup of vegetable broth and add it to a medium saucepan.

3. Measure 1 teaspoon salt and add it to the saucepan.

4. Put the saucepan on the stove and turn the burner on to medium-high heat to bring it to a boil.

5. Once broth is boiling, carefully add the cauliflower. Put the lid on the pan, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes, until cauliflower is very tender.

6. Carefully remove the lid and use a slotted spoon to remove the cauliflower from the saucepan and add it to the bowl of a food processor.

7. Add 2 tablespoons of chicken broth from the pot to the food processor, along with 3 tablespoons of butter, cut into slices or chunks.

8. Process until smooth.

9. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Recipe adapted from Once Upon a Chef.