The Purple One

A few weeks ago, I went on a playlist-making spree. I already had collected my favorite songs for working out, cleaning, chilling and dinner-partying, but I clearly wasn’t satisfied to leave things so practical. After realizing I liked two songs named “August” (one by Taylor Swift, but a better one by Flipturn), I spent way too long finding and saving other songs titled for months of the year and putting them, naturally, in chronological order.

Then I started in on colors: “Blue,” naturally, because it’s probably the best song named for a color ever. (“Songs are like tattoos” — I mean, all hail Joni Mitchell.) But next on my list might be the most famous: “Purple Rain,” by a certain Prince Rogers Nelson, who made the royal hue such a signature that Pantone designed a color just for him, “Love Symbol #2.”

Did the Purple One know about purple cauliflower? I can’t find any evidence that he did, but I sure do. In fact, I put purple cauliflower on the cover of my most recent book, “Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking,” because I think it represents my approach: a commitment to finding the joy and beauty in vegetables, and to helping you bring that to your kitchen. (Plus, purple and green is perhaps my favorite color combination.) I love the illustration by Federico Epis so much I asked him to riff on it for a logo for this very newsletter!

So, why is some cauliflower purple, some orange, some green — but the vast majority we see is white? It turns out that cauliflower was once more widely available in multiple hues, but selective breeding resulted in the dominance of the white variety. But over the last decade or so (come to think of it, mostly since Prince’s death in 2016), older varieties have been brought back and new hybrids have joined them, which is why we now see more of the cruciferous rainbow at farmers markets and even in grocery stores.

The color comes from naturally occurring pigments, and they’re all good for you: the carotene that gives us orange cauliflower; the chlorophyll that results in green heads; and the anthocyanin that makes my favorite cauliflower the color of Prince’s … well, everything.

As for plain old white cauliflower, did you know that it can take some human intervention to get the head to stay that color as it matures? You do now. Some modern varieties now have leaves that do the job on their own, but otherwise you have to tie them up around the head to keep the sun from turning it yellow-ish or sometimes purplish and getting a little bitter. It’s those same pigments that are in the deeply colored cauliflower varieties, being drawn out by the light. But don’t worry: Contrary to some things you might read out there, cauliflower’s health-giving properties easily withstand the process, which is called “blanching,” not to be confused by the cooking method.

I love cauliflower in any of its beautiful shades, but when I’m feeling dramatic — which, let’s be honest, is most of the time — I go for purple.

Speaking of the cooking method blanching, I rarely use it with cauliflower; I’m much more likely to roast or sauté, and that’s helpful here, because those pigments in purple cauliflower are water soluble, so if you boil it, you’ll lose at least some of the hue to the water. Nobody wants that.

My favorite cauliflower cooking method, no matter the color, is roasting. And for that, here are some ways to make sure you get nicely browned-on-the-edges pieces, with crispiness here and there. The main point to keep in mind is that cauliflower, like so many vegetables, has a high water content, so you run the risk of oven-steaming, which will give you something softer than I think you probably want.

• Crank up the heat. I usually do 450 or even 475 degrees, and I’ll use the convection setting, too, to increase the air flow around the pieces.

• Use the biggest sheet pan you have — or more than one. (I love this one from King Arthur Baking.) And make sure the pieces don’t touch one another on the pan. Remember: air flow!

• Put the sheet pan in as the oven preheats. This will help sear them from the start.

• Consider how you cut the cauliflower. Florets are the most intuitive way to go, of course, but if you want to get more surface area browned and caramelized, consider first cutting the cauliflower into thick slabs. That way, more flat surface will come into contact with the hot pan.

• Prep the pan. If you want to avoid dirtying another bowl and toss the cauliflower with oil and spices right on the sheet pan, do what my friend and former colleague Olga Massov suggests in her great book “Hot Sheet,” written with Sanaë Lemoine: Drizzle the pan with oil first, before laying down the cauliflower, and then again (along with seasonings) once the pieces are on.

Tell me your favorite cauliflower cooking tips! And scroll down for a recipe and links to more!

By the way, during my playlist-making spree, I realized something about the folly of basing them on such criteria as thematic song titles. You musically sophisticated readers already know: Just because two songs are both named for months or colors doesn’t mean they sound right when played back to back. Still, the next time I cook purple cauliflower, I’m queueing up Prince: probably his cover of Joni’s greatest song, possibly the greatest song ever written (IMHO): “A Case of You.” If you haven’t heard it, I highly recommend you do.

I break for animals: Noah

That second dog I mentioned in my welcome email is Noah. I’ll write more about him from time to time, but I figured my first “I break for animals” would give you a look at how unbelievably cute he was as a puppy. (Still, really, but that’s not my point here.) Send me pet pics, please!

Recipe: Grand Aioli Platter

I know I just gave you tips for roasting cauliflower, but in case you haven’t noticed, at least here in North America it’s … hot. It’s summer. So instead, here’s one from “Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking” that features it (or whatever other vegetables you’d like) raw, with a beautiful dip, no cooking required. It’s time for a Grand Aioli!

Grand Aioli Platter With Espelette Aioli

This is French-­style entertaining at its simple best: an array of market-­fresh vegetables with an aioli spiked with mild, fruity, slightly spicy Espelette pepper for dipping. You can choose whatever vegetables you’d like, but here I’m calling for purple for obvious reasons. More important: Make sure they’re as fresh and in-season as possible. Whatever the mix, you want about 2 pounds (910g) of vegetables in total. It’s nice with rosé.

Make sure to whip up the aioli (made from aquafaba) a couple hours in advance, so it can fully chill before serving.

Makes 6 to 8 servings
Storage: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.

Espelette Aioli (see below)
8 ounces (228 g) raw or lightly steamed purple cauliflower florets
8 ounces (228 g) thin or baby purple carrots, scrubbed, with tops left on and halved lengthwise
8 ounces (228 g) purple radishes, halved
8 ounces (228 g) purple endive
1 large lemon, cut into wedges
Flaky sea salt, for serving

Set a bowl of Espelette Aioli on a large platter and arrange the vegetables around it. Serve with a small bowl of lemon wedges and a pinch bowl of flaky salt for your guests to use as they’d like.

Espelette Aioli

Makes 1 cup
Storage: Refrigerate for up to 1 week.

2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons aquafaba
1 heaping tablespoon canned no-salt-added chickpeas
1 1⁄2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon ground Espelette pepper, smoked paprika, or Aleppo pepper
1⁄4 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola, avocado, or grapeseed
½ cup (120ml) plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

In a tall container big enough to fit an immersion blender, combine the garlic, aquafaba, chickpeas, vinegar, mustard, pepper, and salt. Use the immersion blender to blend until smooth.

In a spouted measuring cup (or other vessel that is easy to pour from), combine the olive oil and neutral oil. With the blender running, very slowly drizzle the oil into the aquafaba mixture, increasing the stream if you’d like as an emulsion forms. Taste and adjust seasonings, as necessary.

Recipe from “Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking” (Ten Speed Press, 2024). Copyright Joe Yonan.

More favorite cauliflower recipes

These are gift links to the recipes at the Post. Note that they require you to register but not subscribe. Gift links are free to access for 2 weeks, so if you want to save any of these recipes but don’t subscribe or want to subscribe, I suggest you save them!

Creamy Vegan Cauliflower Gratin

Pasta With Vegan Sausage, Cauliflower and Kale

Char Siu Cauliflower