Read more on how she explores, learns, and balances all her interests at www.saramenges.com. I don't think cauliflower and broccoli are alike at all, except that they both cause flatulence. | Privacy Policy. Without contact with boiling water, steaming is a gentler way to cook. Sometimes, broccoli is compared to tiny trees, while cauliflower looks more like masses of cumulus clouds. Despite claims that the two are so similar they’re nearly interchangeable, there are some notable differences between these vegetables. Both can get stuck in your teeth, but if you have cauliflower in between your front teeth, it might not even be noticeable. Today it’s used in everything from roasts to salads to stir-fry dishes, and its versatility has helped it remain popular over time. Cauliflower, however, always seems to do well when hearty: either as cauliflower cheese or roasted with garlic and parmesan. It boasts similar nutritional qualities to cauliflower and broccoli and the taste is more tender and slightly sweeter. Broccoli's flower masses are more loosely distributed so that it's possible to see space in between each stalk. Both have folate, fiber and potassium, contains amino acids, and helps with cancer prevention, losing weight, lowering cholesterol levels, and improving gut health. This recipe pulls out all the stops, tossing the vegetable with lemon zest, garlic, red pepper flakes, almonds, and parmesan cheese before baking it to tender perfection. While eating them raw is the best way to consume broccoli, cauliflower, or broccoflower your next best option could be to steam them. You can also pull out your slow cooker to combine cauliflower, broccoli, and cheese in this creamy slow-cooker soup. The two vegetables have some similarities when they are cooked, in both taste and smell. © We call cauliflower and broccoli cole crops on our farm because they are from the same family. One cup of raw cauliflower has 25 calories whereas one cup of raw broccoli has 30 calories. Most PlushCare articles are reviewed by M.D.s, Ph.Ds, N.P.s, nutritionists and other healthcare professionals. Broccoli can be eaten raw or steamed, sautéed, grilled, or roasted to help improve the taste and texture.. One cup of boiled cauliflower has 28 calories and one cup of boiled broccoli has about 54 calories. Another vegetable that is commonly referred to as Broccoflower is Romanesco broccoli. They look different, they don’t taste exactly the same, and they offer distinctive nutrients. The color is a light, bright green, and the clustered heads have an unusual shape that some say looks almost alien, which can make it appealing to picky eaters. Broccoli is a lighter vegetable in my house: stir-fried with oyster sauce or steamed with a simple squeeze of lemon. And clearly they were onto something as research continues to uncover new ways that vegetables can help improve human health and allow people to thrive. Both vegetables have about the same vitamin C levels, although cauliflower has a slightly lower dietary fiber content, about 2 grams in a 0.5 cup (92 g) serving. Another benefit of broccoli over cauliflower is it contains less undesirable saturated fatty acids and higher levels of the desirable polyunsaturated fatty acid. Broccoli contains 74.7 mg of calcium, and cauliflower only has about 19.8 mg; broccoli has 1.4 mg of iron, whereas cauliflower provides 0.41 mg; and broccoli is a very good source of magnesium with 39.0 mg—about 10% of your daily value—while cauliflower only has 11.2 mg of magnesium. I wouldn't eat cauliflower then, though. Use raw broccoli and quinoa to throw together this make-ahead salad that creates a flavorful side dish. Broccoli florets also provide more minerals and fiber as well as contains vitamin A that isn’t in cauliflower. No matter how this vegetable is enjoyed, it can help promote better health and wellness. I have heated up frozen bags of mixed vegetables that contained both broccoli and cauliflower before, and I can tell a big difference. Click here to learn more and meet some of the professionals behind our blog. I don't like this texture with this taste. In appearance, most cauliflower has closely bunched tight masses that appear together on stems.