Bang Bang Cauliflower

The science behind the song

"Bang Bang Cauliflower" is the album's burst of energy, and the cooking method in the artwork (an air fryer, twelve minutes) isn't incidental. Cauliflower, like its cruciferous relatives, contains glucosinolates that convert into isothiocyanates when the plant's cells are broken down by cutting or chewing, the same broad family of compounds behind broccoli's sulforaphane, generally in smaller amounts.

Cooking method matters for how much of that benefit survives to the plate. Boiling vegetables in a large volume of water leaches out water-soluble vitamins and some glucosinolates into the cooking water, while dry-heat methods like air frying or roasting avoid that particular loss, since there's no water for anything to dissolve into. Twelve minutes in a hot air fryer is enough to crisp the edges without the long, wet cook that does the most damage.