HOMAGE TO PURPLE CAULIFLOWER

Until lately, the cauliflower has appeared in fields and produce markets only in shades of off-white and beige.  But now the vegetable is showing up in fashionable hues of orange and purple.  When cooked, the purple variety can exhibit many lovely shades, from faint to intense, among them blue, indigo, cornflower, and navy.  Here this humble comestible attains a surreal, even ethereal quality, inviting the not entirely welcome intrusion of rampant utensils intent on ravaging the ravishing veggie.