If you’re looking for some eye-catching produce that delivers a nutritional punch, multi-colored cauliflower is worth a second look. Depending on which color you choose, this unique vegetable trumps the plain-old white variety when it comes to health-boosting antioxidants, fiber and beta-carotene, while the bright hues of orange, purple and green are a great way to add natural color and visual appeal to an otherwise bland and boring vegetable dish!

Credit for the first colored cauliflower goes to a Canadian vegetable producer, who in 1970 discovered an orange-colored cauliflower among his crops in the Bradford Marsh, a black-muck soil region just north of Toronto, Ontario that is renowned for it’s carrot production.

Agricultural scientists believe that the orange cauliflower was the result of a cross-pollination mutation between a carrot and the cauliflower. Given consumers’ disdain for anything that deviated from the norm in the 70’s, Holland Marsh farmers could only hope that their lily-white cauliflower and bright orange carrots would refrain from any more mingling.

Scientists at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station located in Geneva, N.Y. picked up where Mother Nature left off, conducting numerous cross-breeding experiments that transformed plain white cauliflowers into multi-colored, nutrient dense vegetables that started appearing farmers’ markets and gourmet shops in late 2003.

Consumers and chefs alike began asking California produce growers for these unique, colored cruciferous veggies (that’s right – cauliflowers are from the same plant family as brocolli and cabbage), leading to the widespread availability of purple, green and orange cauliflower.

And just when you’re thinking this all sounds a bit too scientific, it’s important to realize that cauliflower isn’t the first vegetable to undergo a color makeover – apparently orange carrots are a relative newcomer to the California produce scene as well (but that’s another story).

Make no mistake – traditional white cauliflowers are no nutritional slouches, and when prepared correctly, they’re pretty darn tasty too. It’s just that most people view white cauliflower as a bit boring – perhaps it’s the memories of that glue-y fake cheese sauce that greasy spoons tend to glop on over-steamed vegetables, or maybe it’s the bitter cabbage flavor that is the hallmark of over-ripe cauliflowers. Whatever the reason, cauliflower has had a bum rap for years, but that’s all in the past now!

The development of multi-colored cauliflower has been credited with a sort of ‘cauliflower revival’ across America. Chefs are now integrating orange, green and purple bits into raw salads, smoothies and side dishes, substituting low-carb cauliflower for potatoes in mashes, cream soups and even in place of rice.

So what else is so great about multi-colored cauliflower? The nutrients, of course!

Orange cauliflowers have 25% more beta-carotene filled Vitamin A than their white counterparts do, while raw purple cauliflower contains high levels of the cancer-fighting, blood-sugar regulating antioxidant anthocyanin. Just remember that like most colored vegetables, the nutritional values of multi-colored cauliflower tends to decline with cooking, so raw or lightly steamed is best.