Cauliflower cheese

1 cauliflower

75g reduced fat Cheddar cheese

25g butter or soft spread

25g plain flour

250ml semi-skimmed milk

1x5ml spoon mustard

Chopping board, knife, two saucepans, grater, measuring jug, measuring spoons, colander, heat proof dish.

1. Remove the green leaves and stalk from the cauliflower and cut into small florets.

2. Place the florets into a saucepan of boiling water. Simmer for 5-6 minutes.

3. Grate the cheese.

4. Make the sauce:

• melt 25g fat in a saucepan;
• stir in 25g plain flour;
• mix the flour and butter together to form a paste;
• gradually add 250ml milk, stirring constantly as it thickens. Simmer for 2 minutes;
• add 50g of cheese and the mustard to the sauce.

5. Drain the cauliflower and place it in a heat proof dish.

6. Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower.

7. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

8. Place under a hot grill until golden brown.

• Make up the sauce and pour over fish, pasta or other vegetables.
• Exchange the cauliflower for a range of cooked vegetables for a terrific veggie bake.
• Stir the sauce with cooked pasta, canned tuna, sweetcorn and spring onion for a quick ‘tuna pasta bake’.
• Try using 1% or skimmed milk and reduced fat cheese to make it healthier.

Why not use the Explore Food calculator, the British Nutrition Foundation's free online nutritional analysis programme, to calculate the nutritional information for this and other Food - a fact of life recipes?