Embrace the color purple

If you have a passion for purple, consider extending that preference to the foods you eat.

All deeply pigmented fruits and vegetables are rich sources of vitamins, minerals and health-supporting plant chemicals, including antioxidants that add color to foods. Carotene, for example, makes carrots and peaches orange.

Anthocyanin is another. It produces the purple in some plums as well as peppers and grapes so dark that they appear to be black.

These beneficial phytochemicals are concentrated in richly colored foods and may reduce your risk for coronary artery disease and some forms of cancer.

Beyond potential health benefits, though, colorful foods also add appeal to your plate. If that encourages you to expand the range and amount of fruits and vegetables you eat, it's a strategy worth pursuing.

That's where purple comes in.

Less common than the reds, greens, yellows and oranges we usually find on our plates, deep blue and purple add contrast. Think about the pop a handful of blueberries adds to a bowl of cantaloupe cubes or the interest sliced beets bring to a mixed green salad.

Other common choices in the blue-purple-black category include eggplant, blackberries, purple cabbage and purple kale. Some types of lettuce also produce purple leaves.

Even more choices exist, however. You'll find some of them at farmers markets and grocery stores that sell heirloom and other specialty varieties.

I've mentioned in past columns that I subscribe to a CSA -- community supported agriculture -- farm each year. Throughout the growing season, I look forward to receiving beets, two kinds of purple eggplant, red Russian kale and red leaf lettuce (really a deep red-purple), black radishes and Swiss chard.

If you'd like to try some of the more unusual varieties of purple vegetables, another option is to grow your own.

Try purple carrots, snap beans, scallions, basil, asparagus, potatoes -- even purple cauliflower. Find them at niche garden shops and in online seed catalogs.

Think about creative ways to add a bit of purple to meals. A few ideas to get you started:

• Add raw purple snap beans, shredded cabbage, sliced plums, or chunks of grilled eggplant to a tossed green salad.
• Serve purple carrots, cauliflower florets, or pepper strips with ranch dressing dip.
• Use purple potatoes in potato salad and stir-fry. Purple potatoes, beets and carrots are also good mixed with other root vegetables, brushed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and roasted in the oven or on an outdoor grill.
• A mixture of blackberries, blueberries and red raspberries or strawberries makes a good filling for cobbler, or use berry sauces over whole grain pancakes and waffles.
• Blend blueberries with banana, ice cubes, and orange juice or vanilla soymilk for a simple smoothie.

Cooking can dull the purple color of vegetables such as potatoes, beans, carrots and cauliflower. The best way to retain as much color as possible is to cook vegetables only as long as needed.

There's a poem that begins, "When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple." Don't wait to embrace purple. Begin with your plate.