Cauliflower, in season in March, is an often overlooked vegetable, mainly served hidden in cheesy white sauce in Cauliflower and Cheese. It is however a highly nutritious vegetable, and is best served raw to preserve many of its useful nutrients.

Cauliflower is part of the cruciferous vegetable family which also includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, swedes, turnips and kale. They are all high in many anti-oxidants and plant nutrients that have been linked to reduced risk of many cancers.

Cauliflower has also good levels of both iron and vitamin C. This is a very useful combination as iron absorption is helped by the presence of vitamin C (which tends to be missing from iron sources of animal origin). For a vegetarian, cauliflower also offers a good source of amino acids, building blocks of proteins, again normally more abundant in animal foods.

As most nutrients are destroyed by cooking, get the best out of cauliflower by eating it raw. It has a nice crunchy texture and can be dipped into hummus or used in salads like in the recipe below.

This is one of the easiest and quickest meal salads and it’s very tasty too. The cauliflower will give the salad some crunch and the creaminess of the feta some richness.

Serves 2-3
Preparation time: 10 minutes

1 small to medium sized cauliflower, cubed
1 tin of chickpeas (400g)
4-5 spring onions, slided
1 carrot, grated
200g pack of feta cheese, cubed
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tbs olive oil
Handful of chopped coriander

1. Wash and cube the cauliflower and place the cubes in a salad bowl.
2. Drain and rinse the chicpeas and add to the cauliflower.
3. Slice the spring onions and add to the mixture.
4. Peel and grate the carrot and mix into the salad.
5. Add the cubed Feta cheese.
6. Mix the lemon juice and olive oil and add to the salad. Mix well.
7. Add the chopped coriander and serve.

I don't drink much milk. How can I make sure I get enough calcium?

From childhood we've been conditioned to think that milk and dairy products in general are the only decent sources of calcium. Avoid them, and your bones will start deteriorating and your teeth will fall out (or so many fear).

In nature, very few things work in isolation, and the same applies to calcium absorption. Sufficient levels of magnesium are key to the body's ability to utilise magnesium. A 2:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium is needed, and some even advocate a 1:1 ratio. Milk has very low levels of magnesium, and the ratio of calcium to magnesium is around 9:1.

On the other hand, many other foods not only have higher levels of calcium per serving, but also have good levels of magnesium and other helpful nutrients to improve absorption and utilisation. Good sources include sesame seeds, almonds, spinach, kale, sardines, broccoli, cabbage and tofu. They all have calcium to magnesium ratios of at least 2:1, and some of them even higher.

Many dairy products are also high in saturated fats which not only give you extra calories, but have also been linked to increased risk of osteoporosis. So introducing some variety into your calcium sources may not be such a bad idea for everyone.

Sanna Anderson is a Nutritional Therapist trained at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition, a leading establishment in the field of nutrition education.

Sanna spent the first 10 years of her career in the financial industry enjoying the challenges of the corporate world. She's always been a keen cook and is passionate about good food, but it wasn’t until experiencing the dramatic effects of a diet change on her own health that she realised the impact good nutrition can have on the quality of life.

She is now sharing this knowledge at her nutrition consultations and through this newsletter and believes that good nutrition is the corner-stone of health and well- being. She is passionate about making healthy food appetising and easy to prepare and her approach is to work with her clients’ unique circumstances to help them achieve their goals.