Colorful Cauliflower

Sadly, we humans have been conditioned to believe that certain vegetables must be a specific color or else there is something wrong with them. Gradually farmers are getting customers over fears of heirloom tomatoes sporting green, orange, purple and yellow colors along with a variety of shapes. But after a brief conversation with a patron at market last week I see how far we still have to go.Spotting the colorful heads of cauliflower at Westmoreland Produce I knew I had to nab mine before market opened or it would certainly be gone at the end of the day. I picked out two small heads—one purple, one green—and chatted with the farmers while forking over some cash. “The season is just getting started. We’ll have more of the purple ones next week, but we’ve got lots of the cheddar,” I was told.The word “cheddar” must have set off the conversation between two ladies I couldn’t help but eavesdrop.“Does it taste like cheddar? one asked.“I don’t know. Do you think they spray it or dip it in something to color it or flavor it?” asked the other.As their banter about the origins of the cheddar cauliflower continued, I finally had to butt in and tell them it grows that way. “Cauli-flower. Flowers grow in many different colors, don’t they?”So, let’s talk about those colorful cauliflowers this week in Dishing the Dirt.Cauliflower, along with broccoli and Romanesco (the one with fractal shapes) are all members of Brassicaceae which is broken down into different cultivars. Other brassicas (also referred to a cruciferous) you will encounter at the market this time of year are cabbage, radish, bok choi, collards, kale, chard, turnips, arugula and mustard greens.The farmers you encounter at the market are considered the minorities of agriculture representing less than a quarter of food production in the USA, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. I decided a long time ago that if I’m going to be labeled at the odd one out then by golly, I was going to live up to it by not doing what everyone else did! I know many of my fellow producers share similar philosophies and that is why you will find varieties of vegetables not widely available, especially in grocery stores, which is where you’re most likely to find vegetables that have been colored and flavored.Cauliflower’s superpower is versatility. It can be cooked seven ways to Sunday, and you won’t eat the same recipe twice. Growing up, the only way I ate cauliflower was steamed or boiled and then slathered in béchamel, but today one of my favorites is a whole head dipped in yogurt with curry powder, roasted in the oven until a rich golden brown and sliced into slabs. Raw florets make great bite-sized snacks and hold up well without refrigeration. While I’m not a big fan of cauliflower pizza, steamed and pureed is one of my favorite ways to make a creamy soup without cream. Imagine that same soup with cheddar or purple or green cauliflower!The bonus with vegetables of color are more nutrients, like beta-carotene and vitamin A. No, they are not colored because they are GMOs in the sense of adding genetic material to ward off pests or withstand chemical spraying, but the colorful varieties were developed from cross breeding a naturally mutated cultivar given to Cornell University back in 1970. The purple varieties contain anthocyanin, the same phytochemical that makes red, blue, or purple fruits and vegetables, and red wine. The colorful varieties are extremely popular so get to the market early.Plain ol’ white cauliflower has rightfully been branded a superfood with scientific validations of antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, immuno-boosting and reduction of cancer and heart disease. Cauliflower is full of vitamins. 100 grams of cauliflower delivers 2 grams of protein and only 5 grams of carbohydrates, mostly in the fiber.The popularity of cauliflower as a low-carb substitute for rice and potatoes, though, has recently landed cauliflower in hot water with the government. Leave it to Louisiana state legislature to pass a law prohibiting cauliflower rice, but the words riced cauliflower are ok. In truth, the law was about labeling lab-grown proteins parading as meat. But that’s a subject for another Dishing the Dirt.