About those colored cauliflowers.

About those colored cauliflowers.

 

Cauliflower is an amazing, versatile, and nutritious vegetable.

 

Traditional cauliflower is white, but you may have seen purple, yellow, and a light green, spiky cauliflower called Romanesque in your specialty store or farmers market. These vegetables are not only beautiful and can make a plain meal look extraordinary, but they also pack a huge nutritional punch.

 

Purple cauliflower is actually a relative of broccoli. It has a slightly different, sweeter taste than white cauliflower. This variety has a boost of anthocyanins or antioxidants, the same kind as berries. These nutrients are said to have anti-aging properties.

 

Yellow cauliflower has some wonderful carroty overtones in the flavor. It has 250 times the amount of beta carotene as white cauliflower. Beta carotene is converted to vitamin A when digested, making this vegetable great for skin and eye health.

 

Both of these varieties of cauliflower are scientifically bred,* and came to market in the 1990s.

 

Romanesque cauliflower: a startling beauty of a vegetable. This breed of cauliflower looks like an MC Escher painting with a light green color and beautiful spiky spirals. The taste is a little leafy combined with traditional cauliflower taste. I cook it on holidays and to impress people at dinner parties. It can make the most simple meals look like 5-star restaurant dishes. Romanesque cauliflower is rich in Vitamins C and K.

 

Check out some great Romanesco recipes here.

 

Recipe ideas:

 

One can always make these cauliflowers in the traditional ways, sautéing or steaming a whole head for 15 to 20 minutes ( depending on the size). You can tell when the cauliflower is done when you stick a fork in it and the vegetable is tender. Remove the cauliflower from steaming and place in a roasting pan, cover with bread crumbs and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees until the bread crumbs are brown on top. Add a little Kerry Gold grass-fed cows butter to serve and viola— even the most ardent vegetable haters will eat this recipe.

 

You can also mash cauliflower and serve it instead of mashed potatoes. Just cut boil for 7 to10 minutes until tender and mash with a little milk or soy milk.

 

I ate a whole head of yellow cauliflower myself, it was so good when I roasted it! Here is the recipe:

Take one head of cauliflower and chop it into pieces that are one inch by one-half inch.

Next, put the chopped cauliflower in a bowl and toss with 3 to 5 tablespoons of olive oil (just enough to lightly coat all of the pieces),¾teaspoon of Himalayan Pink salt, and 3 tablespoons of curry powder. Toss the chopped cauliflower in the oil, curry, and salt mixture until evenly coated. Place the pieces on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes until tender and slightly browned.

 

The curry is a wonderful compliment to the carroty flavor of the yellow cauliflower. The recipe is super easy and healthy.

 

So If you thought cauliflower was this run-of-the-mill flavorless vegetable that can only be tolerated when drowned in cheese sauce, these recipes and information can turn your cauliflower head around.

 

 

* different than genetic modification, scientific breeding of plants involves farmers cross-pollinating plants with desirable qualities together and helping nature along. Genetic modification involves a scientist going into cells of plants and animals and switching genes on and off and inserting genes into the cells; some combinations include splicing rice with bacterium and daffodil genes to create a rice rich in vitamin A.