Cauliflowers of the rainbow

In the midst of all the madness and fun that is SXSW, I didn't make it to my usual Saturday morning farmer's market. (I was sleeping off the previous night's Antlers show.) On Sunday, when most music stuff had died down, we went to the HOPE farmer's market in East Austin. This market is a little different than the downtown market. For starters, it's a little later in the day-- 11 to 3 p.m., for all you late risers, but significantly smaller. Also, it has more in the way of crafts, which is neither here nor there for me, as I usually just go to the market for foodstuffs. We did get some beautiful handmade chocolate-- look for it in future desserts!(Photo note: this pic wasn't taken in hell. I'm just getting the hang of Photoshop Elements...)

We also got purple cauliflower! I was first introduced to this antioxidant-rich heirloom variety in a quiche that Jesse made for brunch a few weeks back. I loved the pop of color it gave to the dish! Colored cauliflowers (they also come in green and orange, with different respective nutritional benefits) are created by selective breeding. In my (extensive, I assure you) research on colored cauliflowers, I learned that while this may seem like a marketing ploy to attract kids (anyone remember blue ketchup?) it's not the first time plant breeders have used selective breeding to modify a veggie's appearance: until the 17th century, carrots were mostly purple, white or yellow, but Dutch breeders engineered the orange color to honor the royal family!

I was really craving a savory tart of some sort, and found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen (one of my favorite food blogs around.) Looks yummy, but it's got, what, 2 1/2 cups of cheese? A little much for two fairly health-conscious people on a Sunday night. I used sour cream instead of the mascarpone, and eliminated the Gruyere and Parmesan in favor of some thin Swiss slices and blue cheese crumbles on top and lots of fresh rosemary. Lots of flavor over lots of quantity. Success!