Cauliflower Is This Year’s It Vegetable

From rice to pizza crust to mashed potatoes, cauliflower is the latest healthy substitute for many starchy dishes, particularly for those of the Paleo persuasion or for those who want to curb their carb intake.

But whether you’re looking for a lifestyle change or just some new inspiration for your lunch box, here’s the nutrition low-down that makes it worth the switch.

Take cauliflower “rice,” for example: It has 60 percent of your daily recommended dose of Vitamin C (white rice contains a fat 0) as well as double the fiber content.

Cauliflower also supports our body’s detoxification process (no need to drink all that juice) and is a cancer-preventing powerhouse. One study found that people who ate cruciferous vegetables just once a week reduced their risk of oral, colorectal and breast cancer by 17 percent, and kidney cancer by 32 percent.

Watch: How to Make Cauliflower Rice.

Cauliflower is also lower in calories: a cauliflower mash can be as low as 60 calories per serving, while a typical mashed potato serving is more than 200 calories.

So even if you swap cauliflower for carbs in just one meal each week, you could make a major impact on your health.

Before you dust off your food processor, here are a few tips for the time-crunched cooks among us:

1. If you can’t make the time to wash and chop the veggie, you can buy organic “cauli-rice” from Trader Joe’s.

2. Keep a few bags of frozen organic florets in your freezer for nights you don’t have time to run to the store.

3. Steaming it takes half the time of boiling potatoes, so you can have dinner on the table faster.