Purple sage and colorful cauliflower

I’ve been leery of cauliflower for most of my life. Despite my early penchant for devouring white foods, there was just something about cauliflower that seemed a bit wrong. To me, it looked like albino broccoli and no matter how much cheese you added to a steaming plate of it (because growing up that was the only way it was served—smothered in cheddar cheese), it felt like an imposter, a genetic mistake that no amount of dairy could improve.

Then a few years ago, I dated a guy who was on a low-carb diet. And if you’ve ever spent time preparing low-carb menus you know that mashed cauliflower is a highly recommend substitute for the off-limit potatoes. I’d puree them with roasted garlic, fresh rosemary and a bit of butter, and if I closed my eyes I could pretend that they were almost as good as the real deal. But I always felt this seemed unfair to the cauliflower—making it work as something it wasn’t. Surely there had to be a way to eat this vegetable where its essential cauliflower-ness was retained and yet would still be satisfying.

Enter pan-roasted cauliflower. After tossing a couple of chopped heads with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, and cooking it at a high heat in the oven for about half an hour, the cauliflower came out tender but with a bit of a snap, nicely caramelized in spots which added a sweet depth to the flavor. I was hooked. But I was still a bit put off by the color.

So imagine my surprise last Wednesday when I went to the farmers’ market and they had purple and orange cauliflower on display along with the usual white heads. I was struck by their beauty, but was even more impressed by the name for the orange: Cheddar cauliflower. A vegetable named after cheese? Now that’s something I can support! The farmer said they wouldn’t be in season very long, probably for just a few more weeks, so I grabbed one of each, brought them home, threw them in the fridge and then forgot about them.

Such is my life that from Wednesday onward, I’m working late hours at the office and too tired to come home and cook. But Sunday after having a marathon baking session (I was trying to find a perfect cookie recipe for my homemade banana pudding) I was in sugar shock. I needed something fresh, flavorful and healthy, yet a dish that would be a cinch to prepare as well. I peeked into my fridge and there in the back of the crisper drawer sat my two colorful cauliflower heads, forlorn and forgotten and quickly going bad. I then knew what I would have for dinner.
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