Purple Produce Eaters!

Monroe loves purple! I love feeding her fresh produce. One trip to the
Santa Monica Farmer's Market later, and I have a few fantastic ways to
combine those interests. I can't wait to serve my family a meal with
purple carrots, purple asparagus, and purple fingerling potatoes!!

Update 1: Purple asparagus were first in our snack line-up. They turned a brilliant deep emerald green upon steaming, which was a beautiful but not purple. Monroe gamely tried them and ate about 4 tips--pretty good for a toddler! From an adult perspective, the flavor was out-of-this world--very delicate and almost like the heart of an artichoke.

Update 2: While the purple asparagus were a mild success, the purple carrots were an absolute home run. We all loved them! The carrots were young and tender enough that they only needed to be washed and did not need peeling. The outer skin was a brilliant red-purple, and the insides were orange. The flavor had a subtle spice.

Monroe ate them "like a bunny" (whole, using the greens as a handle and nibbling the end) and we took a bag of carrot chips to Disneyland on Sunday. They were gone before we even made it into the park. Having ensured that 2 servings of vegetables were down the hatch, I felt free to relax and let Monroe enjoy amusement park food for the rest of the day. :-)



We also used some of these carrots with my beautiful new juicer (a birthday present from Eben) to make fantastic carrot-cucumber-apple juice drinks! The color combination resulted in a drab brown that belied the fantastic taste. I'll have to work on my juice styling.