Almost Mardi Gras Colors

We like to grow some strange things in the garden most years.  Not really strange, but things with lots of color.  I wanted to show some Purple of Sicily Cauliflower.  For some reason, they didn't make the big heads like normal white cauliflower.  They look more like broccoli, in fact.  But one thing is for certain, they're PURPLE!

Every night we have been taking them and breaking them apart and putting them on a baking sheet with minced garlic, butter and olive oil with kosher salt and roasting them in the oven.  I tell you, if you've never eaten broccoli or cauliflower like this, you are missing out!  It is our family's favorite.  Even Benjamin, who is not wild about certain vegetables, will eat these.  Look how pretty the Purple of Sicily Cauliflower looks in all its glory.

The bad thing about growing colorful vegetables, is that it makes growing "normal" vegetables somewhat mundane and boring in comparison.  Look at this poor, pale cauliflower.

One thing is for sure, they all taste great, despite the color.  Here is one more photo of a "bouquet" of purple cauliflower and green broccoli.  The only thing missing is something Yellow, and there would be all the colors of Mardi Gras.

Live Purple Love Gold

A few weeks ago we met to watch the LSU Fightin' Tiger Football team win the national championship game against the Clemson Tigers, finishing the season with a perfect 15 and Eaux record.  This post will be short as there's not much more to be said about it.  Mom and Dad had some great game food and we yelled and screamed and high-fived each other until our hands hurt.  My face hurt from smiling.

It got a little rowdy at times...  Our boys and Jenny's boys were fired up.

We celebrated the Tigahs and then we celebrated Benjamin's 19th birthday.  Lot's of celebrations going on.

Unfortunately, the game was on a Monday night.  I had to be at work early the next morning and Benjamin had to be back at college the next day.  We posed for a photo with Mom & Dad before heading out.

But we weren't done with the celebrations just yet.  I walked out to the garden the next day only to discover that my cauliflower was sporting a purple game jersey to commemorate the National Championship!

Was this some sort of gardening miracle?  Purple rain?

Actually no.  I planted some purple cauliflower this fall and it just happened to ripen to coincide with LSU's big victory.  We roasted it in the oven with garlic just last night.  It tasted just like regular white cauliflower, but the purple is just more visually pleasing to the eye.  My purple carrots should be ripening soon...  Geaux Tigahs!

If Dr. Seuss Had a Vegetable Garden...

Looking through the seed catalogs in front of the fireplace in the winter is a fun thing for me to do.  I like looking for new seed varieties to try.  We grow open-pollinated varieties of seed so that we can save the seed from year to year.  Of course we'll grow the old standbys, but sometimes it's fun to mix it up a bit and add some variety.  Tonight I'll show you two of the new items that we tried this year.

If Dr. Seuss had a vegetable garden, surely he'd have purple cauliflower growing in it.  I bet he'd eat it with his green eggs and ham.

Geaux Tigers!

As the days are short and it gets dark early, I had to harvest these by lantern-light tonight.  This photo below just doesn't do it justice, but this is a green cauliflower.  I have a row of purple cauliflower, a row of green cauliflower and a regular row of white cauliflower (boring, I know!)

It's not easy being green

Growing amid the healthy green leaves of the plants, the purple cauliflower just reaches out and grabs you.  It is a stark contrast to the dark green leaves.  Of course the cows came running when they saw me harvesting the cauliflower in the garden and I tossed the leaves over to them.  When you harvest broccoli, the plant will continue to make little florets that we keep harvesting and enjoying every single day.  Not so with cauliflower.  When you harvest the head - it's done.  The cows take care of it though.

Live Purple

Now these are just a different color, but they will taste exactly the same as traditional cauliflower.  

During the Spring, I grow some Dragon Tongue Beans that have purple stripes. When you cook them, they lose their purple stripes unfortunately.  We'll test this out to see if they hold their purple color once cooked.  

Beautiful Purple

Tricia put a little butter in the cast iron skillet and stir fried them.  This is my second favorite way to eat them.  My favorite way is to roast them in the oven drizzled with olive oil and minced garlic.  It's like eating candy.  These were cooked to perfection - cooked but not too much.  They still were crisp and delicious.  They weren't off the plant for 15 minutes before they were in the skillet.  From farm to table.  Doesn't get fresher than that unless, of course, you eat it in the field.

A Delish Dish

How about that?  The purple color stayed after cooking.   Tricia always likes the contrast of different colors on her plate.  This fits the bill.  This is the kind of crop that would make Dr. Seuss proud.  In his honor (with apologies to Sam I Am):

I would eat purple cauliflower in a cast iron pot,

I would eat it; you might not,

I would make it disappear from my plate,

While it's cookin' I can hardly wait.

I would eat the green ones too,

It's good for me.  It's good for you,

I'll clean my plate, thank you ma'am.

I like it, I like it, Sam I Am!