Colorful vegetables in antipasto

I’m not sure when or how this beautiful trend began, but over the past few years, some gloriously pigmented cauliflowers have been trickling into the produce aisles and farmers markets.

Have you seen them? Purple, pale orange and golden yellow floral faces peer back from among the more familiar white orbs. They retain a great deal of their color when cooked — the purple ones, especially, which become a rather magical shade of near blue.

Bright, edible hues in nature is mysterious and wonderful — and these visual cues can draw us more deeply and joyfully into vegetable appreciation and consumption.

Cauliflower-cheese antipasto

1 medium-large cauliflower (about 2 pounds) — colored, if available

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 cup thinly sliced onion

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon minced or crushed garlic

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or cider vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup diced mild white cheese (jack, fontina or something similar)

3 to 4 tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt (optional)

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil — or boil some water in the bottom section of a vegetable steamer. In the meantime, trim the cauliflower of its base and leaves and cut or break the rest into 3/4-inch florets. You should get about 6 cups.

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