Pepping up a Pasty Vegetable

I hope this lovely cauliflower wasn't the result of some mad scientist manipulating GMOs, but I couldn't resist it. My family loves cauliflower, but our favorite dishes -- gratin de chou-fleur and cauliflower soup -- tend to be on the pale side. This isn't so bad the first night, but I feel they make terribly pasty leftovers.

I was intrigued to see how this purple specimen would hold up to being cooked as a gratin.



After pre-cooking the cauliflower in boiling water, my hopes were dashed -- it was looking a bit on the grey side. I continued with my regular recipe, adding bechamel sauce and grated cheese, and put it in a colorful dish in case further cooking took away even more of the purple coloring. But au contraire, the baking seemed to bring back the violet tones that had momentarily disappeared.


By the way, the vegetable tasted identical to regular white cauliflower. I can't wait to try it in soup.