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What can I do with the root/leaves of a cauliflower?

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Char Nolan - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Recorded

This event was on March 11, 2025

Join Chef Char Nolan in her virtual office as she welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to ask anything – from cooking techniques to course-specific questions, to how to turn your cooking passion into profit or simply hearing the perspective of a professional chef, Chef Nolan is ready to answer them all.

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Question

Patrick Britton

What can I do with the root/leaves of a cauliflower?

Answer

I'm a regular cauliflower user. Uh, in your assignment for roasting vegetables, I noticed that some people will use the bag of pre-cut cauliflower and broccoli. And how do I know? Because if you don't cut the edges off, they're gonna be brown and they're not gonna make your broccoli taste as good. But sometimes cauliflower seems as though it could be filled with effort. So this is, sorry for that noise. This is what happens after you take that head of cauliflower and you turn it on its side like this, and you smack it down about four to six times, it's going to be in its plastic wrap. And when you open it up, all of the florets will come off of the stem. And then you're probably saying, well, what will you do with this? So I will clean any of the dirty leaves or take them off, and I can do one of two things with this. Uh, I can braise this with some onion and garlic, and then when it's finished, I can puree it and make it into a really delicious tasting dip. Or if I want to, I can just save it in this plastic bag and I can use it for making stock.

Char Nolan

Chef Instructor

Char Nolan is a serious crusader for plant-based education, armed with a degree in public health from Philadelphia’s Temple University. She teaches nutrition and plant-based cooking throughout Philadelphia, and in many underserved communities. Char holds a certificate in plant-based nutrition from eCornell and completed Rouxbe’s Plant-Based Professional Certification course in 2015. In 2019, Char completed post-graduate course work in social media marketing at the University of the Arts. When she is not cooking or teaching, she manages social media accounts for several plant-based influencers. Char prides herself on learning everything she knows about cooking from growing up in her grandparents’ Italian restaurant. Her favorite vegetables are Brussels sprouts and kale, of course. Char originally hails from Queens, NY, but has lived in Philadelphia most of her adult life. She is a former Peace Corps Volunteer.