Now available in vibrant colors, cauliflower finding new cachet
Cauliflower, as we have known it, has been endlessly white. Many of us have grown up with it presented as a rather lackluster and boiled-to-death member of the vegetable family, often featured as a mandatory and healthy accompaniment to the artery clogging activity of steaks and roasts. I suspect that most of us as children grew skilled in artfully concealing its soggy, repugnant forms under bits of mashed potato and fat trimmed from the steak edge.
But good news: Cauliflower has lately been revealed as one of our most versatile vegetables.
It additionally has been reborn in a variety of brilliant and super-healthy hues with colors and textures so vivid it is hard to believe they are real.
Recent hybrids are brilliant purple and brilliant green, as well as a deep orange variety - all absolute visual jewels in the garden and on the plate. These new, brightly colored varieties are as easy to grow as any other cauliflower, and the time to plant all of them (including the white varieties) is now.
A simple internet search for current cauliflower recipes reveals a mouth-watering array of delectable dishes that go far beyond the basic traditional approach of eating it raw or boiled or steamed into an overcooked and translucent state. The scope of newly realized uses is really unparalleled in the vegetable world. Many of these recipes appeal to our base need for comfort
food but spare us the carbohydrates.
Try baked cauliflower steaks, Cauliflower-crust pizza, Cauliflower mac ‘n’ cheese, Cauliflower-carrot cheesy tots, buffalo cauliflower, creamy mashed cauliflower potatoes, and cauliflower cake. In the more light and healthy camp there are cauliflower-rice tabbouleh and cauliflower couscous to name just a few options.
These dishes are usually made with the traditional white varieties - of which there are many - and involve baking the cauliflower instead of boiling or steaming it, to help reduce some of the water and improve the texture of dishes.
Many of the recipes that use cauliflower as a substitute for pasta, grains, bread, or meat require the stiff curds that the white, orange and purple varieties have.
Of the new colored types, the green varieties curds are not quite as tightly packed as the white (they are a broccoli/cauliflower cross) and may not rice or bake with the same texture, but they still have a superb flavor.
Origins of cauliflower
Cauliflower is a member of the cruciferous vegetable family that includes mustard greens, turnips, kohlrabi, radish, arugula, kale, brussel sprouts, cabbage and broccoli. Cauliflowers’ ancestor is the wild cabbage, Brassica oleracea from the Mediterranean region.
Cauliflower was developed from cabbage, which has been grown since the Greek and Roman times. Cauliflower originated in Cyprus, and spread to Italy and many other countries like Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Spain, India and northwestern Europe.
Cauliflower has been popular in Italy and France since the 16th century. Except for a yellow variety developed in Cornwall in the early 19th century, they have been traditionally white. The colored varieties are new hybrids, created from traditional vegetable breeding. They are not GMOs.
Nutrition
Cauliflower in any color is a healthy vegetable. It is high in fiber and vitamins C, and K as well as folate, (a B vitamin) and manganese, as well as many other nutrients present in less substantial, but still nutritionally important quantities.
Though cauliflower is a nutritious vegetable in general - the colored cauliflowers have different nutrients or more of them than than the white varieties, and are more flavorful and lacking any bitter qualities.
Orange varieties have a high beta-carotene (vitamin A) content. Purple varieties have high amounts of anthocyanins - powerful antioxidants. The green types are high in vitamin C and other antioxidants.
When to plant
In hotter areas, planting starts now to have heads mature before the summer’s heat begins. In cooler areas, it is not too late to plant them from seed if this is done very soon. Note if the plant variety descriptions specify plant preferences for cooler climates or have heat tolerance. In the hottest areas, plant a short-season variety and use starts so heads will mature before the summer heat really develops.
Orange: A rich, pale orange rather than bright orange. This color is not as brightly colored as the purple and green varieties. The flavor is mild and slightly sweet, the texture creamy.
Cheddar hybrid: 58 days to maturity. Pastel orange heads. Color intensifies when cooked.
Orange Burst hybrid: 80-90 days. Delicious, rich flavor. Color is retained when cooked.
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