How to Cook with Purple Cauliflower – One Green Planet

A visit to the farmer’s market is all the time an journey. Other than being higher for the setting and a good way to Assist your native farmers, farmer’s markets are the proper spot for locating produce you wouldn’t discover in your common grocery retailer. Lately, one other attention-grabbing veggie has been exhibiting up at farmer’s markets nationwide and also you would possibly even be fortunate sufficient to identify it at your native grocery retailer: purple cauliflower. Let’s discover out what makes this eye-catching vegetable so particular and why you would possibly need to observe it down.

About Purple Cauliflower

The vibrancy of purple cauliflower can vary from pastel to a deep purple, which can be referred to as Grafitti cauliflower. Different names for purple cauliflower embody Sicilian Violet or Violet Queen, which additionally depend upon how brightly coloured the top is. Purple cauliflower’s colour comes from a bit of antioxidant referred to as anthocyanin, which can be present in crimson wine and different purple veggies. Like common cauliflower, purple cauliflower is an effective supply of vitamin C, vitamin Ok, vitamin B6, folate, fiber, and antioxidants. Whereas the skin a part of purple cauliflower is colourful, the core is white or pastel.

Purple cauliflower has the identical agency texture and crumbly florets as common cauliflower. Typically, their flavors are very related, however purple cauliflower has been described as having a sweeter, nuttier, and fewer bitter style. When deciding on purple cauliflower, select a head that’s agency, feels heavier than it appears to be like, has tightly packed florets, and is free from as many blemishes as potential. Recent-looking, vibrant leaves are indicator of a cauliflower that has been harvested extra just lately. To retailer it, trim the leaves (wash and maintain the leaves for salad, to chop down on meals waste), place it in a plastic again, and retailer it in your high-humidity crisper drawer for as much as seven days.

The right way to Prepare dinner With Purple Cauliflower

Fortunately, cooking with purple cauliflower is simply as straightforward as cooking with common cauliflower — and it’s simply as versatile! For a centerpiece, do that Entire Roasted Cauliflower With Mint Parsley Pepita Sauce. The entire cauliflower head is massaged with garlic and olive oil, then roasted till tender and paired with a contemporary mint and pumpkin seed sauce. By way of presentation, the purple cauliflower paired with vivid inexperienced sauce has a complete “wow” issue. After all, you’ll be able to strive it with recipes that aren’t particularly for purple cauliflower, too, like this Entire Roasted Cauliflower With Calabrian Chili Tahini Sauce or this Spice-Rubbed Roasted Cauliflower Steak With Spinach Tahini Sauce.

For one thing easy, simply swap white cauliflower for purple on this Creamy Garlic and Thyme Rigatoni With Roasted Cauliflower. Attempt purple cauliflower as a facet, like this easy Mustard Roasted Purple Cauliflower or this Golden Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas. Or, you’ll be able to simply steam it such as you would with broccoli. Simply make sure you examine for doneness steadily, as it could lose some if its colour if overcooked.

Right here’s the place cooking will get enjoyable and colourful. Similar to you’ll be able to prepare dinner and purée common cauliflower into creamy soups, mashes, and sauces, you are able to do the identical with purple cauliflower. This Cauliflower Mac and Cheese is made with cauliflower and carrots; strive making the sauce purple through the use of purple cauliflower, purple carrots, and omitting the turmeric used to make the “cheese” sauce yellow. This Cauliflower Millet Mash is one other nice option to check out purple cauliflower. It’s created from a mixture of cauliflower and millet, so select the darkest purple cauliflower yow will discover as a result of the millet will act as “white” and you ought to be left with a beautiful shade of pastel purple. The identical rule applies to this Creamy Cauliflower Soup, which is created from cauliflower and white beans.

Due to colour principle, we will guess that purple cauliflower would possibly lose its “wow” issue if you’re utilizing it to make appetizers like these Spicy BBQ Cauliflower Wings or these Kung Pao Cauliflower Bites.

The place to Purchase

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Sadly, this stunning cruciferous veg continues to be scarce within the produce aisle of on a regular basis grocery shops. Your greatest guess for locating purple cauliflower is probably going grocery shops reminiscent of Entire Meals that have a tendency promote a whole lot of specialty elements. Or higher but, discover out the place your native farmer’s market is! Many farmer’s markets are actually linked via social media so yow will discover out which farms shall be attending and what produce they are going to be carrying. In case you discover out {that a} native farm goes to convey purple cauliflower to the subsequent market, we advise that you simply plan to point out up proper when it opens as a result of everybody will need to go residence with one.

In case you can not discover purple cauliflower in your space, you aren’t utterly out of luck. Attempt rising your personal with these Purple Cauliflower Seeds. One packet of 40 seeds prices simply $1.40.

Extra Recipes Utilizing Purple Cauliflower

Keep in mind, cauliflower is an especially versatile vegetable, so purple cauliflower is not any exception. If something, its colour makes cooking it enjoyable! Attempt utilizing purple cauliflower to make show-stopping dishes like this vibrant Purple Cauliflower Peanut Coconut Curry. The mixture of the creamy, spiced golden curry sauce, inexperienced string beans, and roasted purple cauliflower is totally beautiful. Or, strive purple cauliflower on this Roasted Cauliflower Curry. You may as well use cauliflower to make creamy sauce, like this Cauliflower Carbonara Sauce or this Cauliflower Alfredo — simply swap the white potatoes for purple potatoes to make the sauce even brighter. Whereas we’re on the subject of creating meals vibrant with purple cauliflower, these Tofu Hors D’Oeuvre With Beet Hummus are presumably essentially the most Instagram-worthy appetizer you’ll even discover. The tofu is roasted with turmeric to make it gold, then it’s topped with vivid pink beet hummus and a purple cauliflower floret.

Don’t neglect about cauliflower rice! Easy lower the purple cauliflower into chunks, add it to the bowl of your meals processor, and pulse till it’s a rice-like crumble. Then, use it on this Cauliflower Rice With Mushrooms and Spinach, this Straightforward Cauliflower Rice and Greens, or this Candy Coconut Cauliflower Rice. Simply make sure you omit the turmeric as a result of the mixture of yellow and purple will make brown!

Do you know you may make pizza crust and flatbread with cauliflower? Attempt utilizing purple cauliflower to make this Cauliflower Crust Pesto Pizza or these crispy Cauliflower Flatbreads. You may as well strive it with finger meals like these breaded Crisp Cauliflower Bites so they are going to be golden on the skin and purple on the skin — which seems like a good way to get finicky individuals to eat their veggies.

Surprisingly, you may also use cauliflower to make dessert. Purple cauliflower would make these Cauliflower Good Cream Bowls a beautiful purple colour that may be enhanced be blueberries or açaí berries. Or, give this Cauliflower Tahini Cheesecake a whirl with purple cauliflower.

Don’t restrict your self to what you understand! Have enjoyable cooking with purple cauliflower and making an attempt it in new methods. For extra inspiration, learn Do You Actually Know The right way to Prepare dinner Cauliflower? Listed below are 10 Methods! after which try our vegan cauliflower recipes web page.