Cruciferous Is Such a Pretty Word...

Come on now... say it with me... cruciferous! It's nice isn't it? Sure it's a little tricky with those 's' and 'f' sounds so close together, but really it's a lovely word. The early fall greenmarket is overflowing with vegetables of the cruciferous sort--brocoli, brussels sprouts, kale, and perhaps the most beautiful of them all... cauliflower!

When I stopped by Maxwell's Farmstand at the green market on Monday I found gorgeous, pristine heads of white and orange cauliflower. By Saturday I was going back for more.

It's been a week of cauliflower madness, which is fantastic for my body, given all the vitamins and phytochemicals that cauliflower and its relatives contain. Perhaps my intake of cruciferous vegetables will counter-balance my pursuit of new fall cocktails.

In true UG fashion, I spent the week cooking from the gut. Who wants to follow a recipe when your kitchen is overflowing with random but delicious items!?

This is what I did with that cauliflower:

• Curry roasted cauliflower -- I chopped and roasted half a head of white cauliflower with olive oil, salt, pepper, and curry powder. This is simple and delicious by itself or in other dishes.

• Smoked turkey and roasted cauliflower sandwich -- I threw that curry-roasted cauliflower on a croissant from Parco with smoked turkey, goat cheese, pickled asparagus, sliced roma tomatoes, a pinch of salt and a dab of mayo.

• Refrigerator casserole -- I oven-steamed half a head of cauliflower with a few cloves of garlic and roasted an acorn squash. I then crisped a handful of sage leaves in butter in a square glass dish in the oven. once the sage was crisp, I layered the dish with the squash and garlic, smoked turkey, cauliflower, blue cheese, and white cheddar. It was amazing!

• Pickles, of course! -- HA came over today and helped me whip up a batch of pickles. We followed this recipe from Saveur for some and used just the brine with garlic, sage and lemon for others. We will all have to wait a month to find out how they taste!

What's next!? Squash and cauliflower soup! I can hardly wait. And, I finally own a blender, which is quite exciting. I can puree at will!

If you have any favorite ways to eat cruciferous veggies, please share! And in the meantime, I hope you are enjoying the fall market!