Purple Cauliflower!

Salty, Crunchy and Spicy Purple Cauliflower Recipe

This awesome recipe is modified  from a recipe at San Francisco’s delicious Pizzeria Delfina. I never really was that into cauliflower, but this recipes is spicy, salty and just the right crunch!  

Purple cauliflower is similar to white cauliflower in appearance, but the name gives away its main difference. The vibrant purple color not only adds beauty but nutrition as well. The purple hue is a result of flavonoids and vitamins. Remember the more COLOR on your plate the BETTER!!

Ingredients:

• 1 organic large purple cauliflower
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• sea salt to taste
• 1/4 cup capers, drained
• 1/4 cup chopped organic Italian parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon Serrano or red pepper flakes (optional)

Take the head of cauliflower and trim it into florets.

Start from the base and they will fall apart….

Then heat the coconut oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat and when it is hot, drop in the cauliflower along with a generous sprinkle of salt. ( Might have to do 2 batches to not overcrowd the pan)

While the cauliflower is browning in the skillet, slice garlic, chop the parsley and strain capers. I kept flipping the florets to make sure they were brown all over (8-10 minutes total).

Once the cauliflower was toasty, I tossed the turmeric, capers, parsley, and garlic in the pan and stir-fried everything until the garlic was browned. As a final step, I threw in the spicy chopped pepper and adjusted the seasoning with additional salt.

FACTS ABOUT PURPLE CAULIFLOWER

Purple cauliflower is a low calorie vegetable containing only 25 calories for 100 g. For the 100 g serving, purple cauliflower offers 0 g of fat, 5 g of carbohydrates, 2 g of fiber, 2 g of sugar and 2 g of protein. In addition, this same 100 g will satisfy 100 percent of your daily needs for vitamin C.

Antioxidants

The purple hue of this vegetable is due to anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are antioxidant flavonoids that belong to the group of phenolic antioxidants. Anthocyanins are also found in red cabbage, red wine and blueberries. This flavonoid holds potential health benefits, including the ability to help stabilize capillary walls. Weak capillary walls allow toxic substances to permeate into cells, which can be detrimental to the entire body.

Fiber

For every 100 g of purple cauliflower, you receive 12 g of fiber. This makes the purple cauliflower a good choice when trying to improve digestive processes or waste elimination. Dietary fiber is important to overall health because it helps to keep you feeling full longer, and can even benefit your weight loss goals. The recommended daily intake of fiber each day is 25 to 30 g and 100 g of purple cauliflower will take care of almost half of that.

Vitamins and Minerals

Purple cauliflower contains important vitamins and minerals for overall health. In 100 g of purple cauliflower, you receive over 100 percent of the recommended daily values, or DV, of vitamin C. In addition, you get 25 percent DV of vitamin K, 14 percent DV of folate and 11 percent DV of vitamin B6. Purple cauliflower also offers 12 percent DV of manganese and 9 percent DV of potassium.

(reference http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Purple_Cauliflower_1122.php)

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