Purple Cauliflower - Who Knew?

I have to admit that I find white cauliflower unbearably boring. But purple cauliflower? Now were talking. I just could not resist snatching it up.

Much more flavorful than its ghostly brethren, you might find this luminous cruciferous veggie at your local farmers’ market. The purple hue is caused by the presence of a group of antioxidants called anthocyanins, which makes it that much more of a disease-fighter compared to the ho-hum white variety.

A caveat though: Anthocyanins are water-soluble, so too much cooking (especially in water) will cause some of the antioxidants and eye-popping color to leach out. Sliced raw and plunged into homemade dip is the way to go.

Also available from forward thinking farmers is orange cauliflower. This version is a mix of the traditional white variety and an orange-tinted one dredged up from a Canadian swamp. On top of stoking your taste buds with a creamier and sweeter experience, value-added orange cauliflower has about 25 times more beta-carotene than its white counterpart. The body can convert beta-carotene into vitamin A which functions to support bone and nerve development, and the maintenance of healthy eyes and skin.













Want more good news? Cauliflower, in any of its guises, and other cruciferous vegetables are lauded for their impressive concentrations of cancer-fighting chemicals calls glucosinolates. These help eliminate cancer-causing substances by regulating your body’s detoxification enzymes.

The take home message is that you should not be afraid to try something that is a little different than the norm. Not all produce needs to be made with a cookie cutter and adorned with a sticker.