3 Quick & Easy Ways to Steam Cauliflower

Steamed cauliflower is a wonderfully easy and nutritious dish. Top with a bit of salt and/or pepper, a pat of butter to meld with its earthy flavor, a sprinkle of soy sauce or tamari for something simple yet delicious, a drizzle of toasted sesame oil to bring out its nuttiness. Steaming cauliflower is super easy – whether you do it in a pan, with a steamer, or in a microwave.

Looking for other tasty ways to cook this cruciferous veg?

How to Steam Cauliflower In a Pan
This is by far my favorite way to steam cauliflower. It involves one dish, real steam, great tasting cauliflower:

Bring about 1/4 inch of water to a boil in a large frying pan. Add about 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt and trimmed and cleaned cauliflower florets. Cover and steam until as tender as you like (about 3 minutes for crisp-tender and up to 8 minutes for completely cooked, soft florets).

How to Steam Cauliflower In a Steamer Basket
The classic method of steaming uses a steamer basket or insert:

Bring about an inch of water to a boil in the bottom of a pot into which your steamer basket or insert fits. Put trimmed and cleaned cauliflower florets in the steamer basket, set over the boiling water, cover, and steam until tender to the bite, again about 3 for crisp-tender and up to to 8 minutes for fully tender florets.

How to Steam Cauliflower In a Microwave
Steaming cauliflower in a microwave is certainly quick and convenient.

It is definitely more difficult to get vegetables steamed to a precise and even level of doneness, though, and cauliflower steamed in a microwave may require a bit of draining or drying depending on how much liquid you used and how powerful your microwave is:

Put freshly washed cauliflower florets with water still clinging to them in a large bowl, a small pool of water should form in the bottom of the bowl quite quickly.

If you don't see water in the bottom of the bowl, add a tablespoon of water. Cover the bowl with a microwave-safe lid or plate (avoid plastic wrap in microwaves), and cook on high power for 1 minute. Test for tenderness and repeat at 15-second intervals until the cauliflower is steamed to your liking.

How to Serve Steamed Cauliflower
If you want to go beyond a pat of butter and some salt and pepper, there are endless ways to make tasty use of steamed cauliflower:

Add a sauce as in this Cauliflower with Pesto; Romesco Sauce is good too
Toss it with some herbs, as in Cauliflower with Mint
Mash it up a bit and make Cauliflower Fritters
Use it to make Mashed Cauliflower

Butternut Squash with Chickpeas, Tahini and Za'atar

The autumn farmer's market is bursting with pumpkins and every kind of squash. Butternut, or it's mini version, honey nut, is sweet and mild. Roasting brings out a depths of flavor and it pairs perfectly with a spice like za'atar and the savory notes of tahini sauce.

Roasting chickpeas gives them a crunch and adds interest to the creamy texture of the squash. The tahini makes an excellent dressing for baby spinach and the leaves add a fresh element to this roasted dish. You can also serve the squash and chickpeas over rice as more of an entree.

What You'll Need
1 Mini butternut squash (you can use half a large one as well)
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 Cup chickpeas (canned is fine)
1/4 Cup Greek yogurt tahini sauce (see recipe here)
1 Teaspoon za'atar seasoning
Salt to taste

How to Make It
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Split the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Rub with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast for 45 minutes or until the squash is tender.

Toss the chickpeas with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. When the squash has cooked for 25 minutes, add the chickpeas to the baking sheet for the remaining 20 minutes.

Serve each half of the squash with half the chickpeas. Sprinkle with the za'atar and drizzle on the tahini sauce. Serve over a bed of baby spinach or cooked rice.

Homemade Baked Beans

There is a definite difference between homemade baked beans and those out of a can. When you make them from scratch the beans maintain more of their texture and flavor, the notes of good-quality molasses can be detected and, if you're like me and like traditional-style Boston baked beans, you don't need to worry about someone putting tomato or tomato sauce in them and mucking things up.

That's right, I said it. No tomato product in the baked beans! This is America! We put molasses in, not tomatoes. (Okay, the tomato-style ones are just fine, they're just not Boston baked beans.)

Note that using full-flavored molasses and dark brown sugar will yield stronger, more deeply flavored baked beans. Also, feel free to play a bit with the amount of molasses and brown sugar you add; I prefer my baked beans on the not-too-sweet side, so if you like sweeter baked beans, you may want to increase the molasses and brown sugar by up to half again as much.

What You'll Need
1 pound navy beans or Great Northern beans
1/4 pound salt pork or bacon (bacon lovers can double this, if they like)
1 onion
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon dry ground mustard
1 teaspoon fine sea salt plus more to taste

How to Make It
Rinse the beans and pick them over, removing any truly shriveled specimens or bits of rock or grit. Put the beans in a large bowl and cover them with cool water. Let them soak overnight. Alternatively, you can use the Quick Soak Method.
Preheat an oven to 250 degrees F or get out a slow-cooker and set it to high.
Chop the salt pork or bacon and put half of it in the bottom of a Dutch oven or heavy pot or the slow cooker. Drain the beans and put half of them on top of the bacon.
Peel and chop the onion and put it on top of the beans. Add the remaining beans and top them with the remaining salt pork or bacon.
In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, combine the molasses, brown sugar, and mustard with 3 cups boiling water. Stir to dissolve the sugar and mustard and pour the mixture over the beans. Cover the pot or slow-cooker and cook the beans for 4 hours. Check on them, if the beans are tender to the bite, stir in the salt.
Cover again and cook for another 2 hours, removing the lid after the first hour (you can leave the lid on if you prefer soupier beans). The beans should be tender and the flavors fully blended.
You can serve the beans right away, but something even more magical happens to their flavor if you let them cool and reheat them the next day.
See more New England Dishes here.