Lately, I have developed an utter fascination with purple vegetables and fruits. I am most enchanted with the purple vegetables like this beautiful kale, bell pepper, and cauliflower I found at the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer's Market.
At The Herb Box in Scottsdale, I noshed on these most striking purple kale chips with a raspberry mojito. I was in heaven. The color purple or violet represents wealth, royalty and the crown chakra, spiritual awareness and universal consciousness. The shades of purple range from amethyst, eggplant, indigo, lavender, lilac, magenta, mauve, mulberry, orchid, plum, pomegranate, puce, royal, thistle, to wine.
At the Phoenix Public Farmer's Market, I found purple sage, purple top turnips, and purple Kohlrabi, a Chinese cabbage. Imagine what remarkable dishes you could make with a plethora of these purple vegetables. Smitten Kitchen has a most delicious vegan recipe for Fork-crushed Purple Potatoes.
The pigment responsible for the purple color in vegetables and fruit are called anthocyanins, a potent phytonutrient, or plant compound, acknowledged for its healthiness benefits. Studies show anthocyanins may help reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer. Anthocyanins are also known to help boost brain power namely learning and memory. And maybe can help boost crown chakra power too since they are the same color? I speculate.
Next time you hit vegetable boredom, try some purple vegetables, beautiful and disease-fighting, a powerful combination. If you do, take a photo of your dish and share with us, so we can eat vicariously!
Note: all photos taken with an iPhone4
