Odds N Ends from the Garden- Cauliflower Leaves!

[Liz & Dan]

Odds N Ends from the Garden- Cauliflower Leaves!Hi All,I am cleaning out the Winter garden in preparation for the Spring plantings (I know, should have done this a couple weeks ago!) and was overwhelmed with the amount of Cauliflower leaves my plants produced!

These are only a portion of the leaves from the garden!!This got me thinking about all these Cauliflower leaves and how they could be used (other than the standards like adding to soup or chopped and steamed with a little butter - Oh, I'm getting hungry!) as a substitute for, say Cabbage, Collards, Chard, and any other green leaves you could think of in a recipe.In order to preserve all those leaves for use in cooking dishes (there is NO WAY I can get through all this as fresh leaves!) I washed the leaves thoroughly and recommend freezing them in batches sized for cooking. One trick would be to cut a piece of cardboard the same shape as the bag and place that in the bag with the leaves, as the leaves are very brittle when frozen and will break easily when handled.Now as for using all those leaves, I’ve done a little digging (HaHaHa) and found a post about ways to use the leaves in a couple new ways, Japanese and Indian food recipes. Since these foods are some of my absolute, all-time FAVORITES, I though I would have to give these a try and to share the attempts!Inspired by Jugalbandi's recommendation (more info on them following) to try frying up the leaves, Karl (my neighbor) fried up some sweet potato and cauliflower leaves from the garden as a tempura battered yummy treat! Just follow the directions on the package of tempura mix and get going! Super easy and a great presentable side dish to complement any meal, not just sushi!

Leaves, sweet potato and other veggies ready to batter

Into the Pan

Out of the Pan

Onto the table, ready to eat!The inspiration stared when I stumbled upon Jugalbandi, an absolutely beautiful lifestyle blog that I highly recommend checking out! (http://jugalbandi.info/2007/07/cauliflower-leaves-three-ways/) . What drew me to this site, was the anecdote about growing up in India and having a creative mother who knew how to recognize perceived “waste” as a valuable resource – so permaculture! Also, I loved the description of the crispy fried leaves. What a decadent treat!One of the recipes posted on Jugalbandi's website is a variation from another blog (http://madteaparty.wordpress.com/2007/05/10/patodealu-wadi-taro-leaf-spirals/ and again, this site is worth a visit!), and is of the healthier rolled and sautéed “Cauliflower Leaf Spiral” (healthier than the heavy fried version).Excerpts from the Jugalbandi and Mad Tea Party websites follow (My comments in bold italics):

Jugalbandi's guilt free absolutely delicious Cauliflower Leaf SpiralsRecipe for Spirals from Mad Tea Party website:10-12 Alu (arbi/taro/colocasia) leaves (or CAULIFLOWER LEAVES!)For the spice paste:1 ¼ C chickpea flour (You could substitute your own flour - or maybe Mesquite?)1 t red chilli powder (cayenne pepper)½ t turmeric powder¼ t mild heeng (or garlic!)tamarind juice (soak a 1″ ball of tamarind in half cup of hot water for half hour; rub and extract the juice) (You can find tamarind at any Asian market or use some orange juice with a dash of lemon/lime or some molasses)1 T sesame seeds1″ chunk of jaggery, grated or mushed (or sugar)1 t oilsaltMix all the above ingredients using a little water to prepare a spreadable paste – neither too thick, nor too thin.Wash and trim the stems off of the leaves. Remove a thin layer off the central rib of the leaves to make them more pliable for rolling. I forgot this step this time. Next time, I’ll remember to refer the blog.For the layering I prefer to use an upturned thali (this is just a large plate that has upturned edges like a shallow bowl) which makes clean-up easier. Place an upturned leaf (rib-side up) on your work surface and apply a thin layer of the spice paste. Put another leaf on top of this and more paste. Use 3-4 leaves to get a good sized roll in the end. Fold over the sides, paste them down, and roll, as tightly as possible, to form a log. Place the logs in a steamer, seam side down. Prepare all the leaves in this manner and steam, in a single later, for 30-40 min. I steamed mine for 30 minutes in a pressure cooker without weighing down the vent. Thorough cooking neutralizes the oxalic acid present in the leaves which can irritate the upper digestive tract (that is true for Taro leaves, not Cauliflower! You don't have to cook our leaves that long/) .Slice into 1/3 inch thick rounds after the logs have cooled. Deep fry in hot peanut oil till medium brown in colour. Drain on paper towels. (Don’t the specks of sesame look pretty?) Serve with coconut chutney or good-old ketchup. Makes a great accompaniment to the simplest of Maharashtrian meals, the varan-bhat.

Mad Tea Party's indulgent fried version!As a healthier alternative, you may stir fry the steamed wadis in a tempering of mustard seeds, heeng, and turmeric, and garnish with grated fresh coconut and coriander leaves. But the fried wadis are, oh, so good! Highly recommended.Jugalbandi adds the following recommendations:The two things we did differently -** Cauliflower leaves (ours were large), may have a tough and thick inner rib. Making a ‘V’ cut on the leaf, take out the entire inner rib. It makes it much easier to roll. The roll in the picture has the rib intact. We removed it for the next batch of spirals. It was MUCH easier to work with.** We steamed the rolls, cut them vertically into spirals, then sauteed them in a pan. Splutter 1/2 tsp each mustard seeds and white sesame seeds in 1 tsp oil, add some curry leaves. Toss the spirals in this mixture until a tad crisp. Use a steel or cast-iron pan. They were delicious. You can also shallow fry them with a coating of rice flour or semolina.OK - there you have it, two new ways to use Cauliflower leaves - let me know how this goes for you!

[Chris George]

I am also clearing out my winter bed, thanks for your post! I think I might try your tempura idea on my broccoli leaves.

[grrlscout]

Very cool! Last year, I used up some broccoli leaves, by cooking them like southern greens. They turned out pretty tasty!

[Treasa]

I just noticed that a winter cabbage that I had left the root in the ground has sprouted a bunch of small leaves they might be good southern style. mmmmmmmmmmm