Bored with green vegetables? These twelve types of vegetables are not only real eye-catchers, they also taste just as good as their "normal" colleagues.
Eat with your eyes - this saying also applies to vegetables, even if they are often boring on the plate. The same green, yellow or white varieties always end up on our tables and are more of a nice side dish than a real eye-catcher. With these twelve purple vegetables, the boring side dish suddenly becomes the highlight of the whole dish - and it's still just as tasty and he althy as you know it.
12. Eggplant
When you think of purple vegetables, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the aubergine. No wonder, after all, the aubergine comes in all sorts of shades of purple. In fact, there are even purple and white striped aubergine varieties that look like real exotics in the garden. Unfortunately, the plant is not quite as conspicuous on the plate: its flesh is only white.
11. Potatoes
There is a wide variety of vegetables, but the potato clearly stands out with almost 5000 varieties. Of course, there are also colorful variations among this multitude of varieties, ranging from delicate pink to purple-marbled to almost black. And best of all, purple potato varieties such as the 'Blaue Schwede' or the 'Bleu de la Manche' retain their color when cooking and on the plate.
10. Asparagus
Purple asparagus is also known to many people. But there is not only the white asparagus with the slightly violet heads that you often see at the weekly market. In fact, these are just white asparagus whose heads have been exposed to the light. Purple asparagus, on the other hand, is purple throughout and tastes similar to green asparagus. Unfortunately, the asparagus loses its beautiful purple color when it is cooked, but it is also ideal as a raw vegetable.
9. Carrots
Carrots are orange, aren't they? In fact, the well-known roots also have representatives in white, yellow and, of course, violet. Older carrot varieties in particular often have a broader spectrum of colors than just orange. But the colorful carrots are also becoming increasingly popular with new breeds, and purple carrots are particularly popular at the moment.
8.Pointed Cabbage
Kohl is often accused of being boring and old-fashioned. Purple cabbage varieties such as the 'Kalibos' pointed cabbage are anything but ordinary. Kalibos is a cross between red and pointed cabbage and combines the typical pointed shape with the violet colour. The Kalibos is a real eye-catcher, especially in mixed salads.
7. Peas
In addition to all sorts of green varieties, the pea also has some purple variations on offer. From the 'Blauwschokkers' wrinkled pea to the 'Sugar Magnolia' snap pea and the 'Shiraz' sugar pea, there are numerous purple varieties for every taste. The only drawback: With peas, unfortunately only the pods and the flowers are purple-blue - the kernels, on the other hand, remain green.
6. Kale
The name says it all: kale! But that's not always true: the iconic winter vegetable now also has a purple brother. Varieties of kale such as 'Red Russian' have purple stems and the leaves can also take on a red-purple hue with sufficient sunlight. It can be grown and harvested like normal kale - and also brings a splash of color to the winter.
5. Broccoli
Broccoli is not only available in green - you can actually buy the vegetable with yellow or purple florets. The variety of purple sprout broccoli is already well known, especially in Italy, but in Germany the vegetable is still a rarity. Unfortunately, when cooked, the purple heads of the broccoli turn just as green as the rest of the plant - so if you want to keep the color, it's better to enjoy sprouting broccoli raw.
Tip: Our Plantura vegetable growing set contains seeds for five colorful types of vegetables, which not onlylook great, but also taste really good.
4. Beans
Beans can be purple too - purple beans (also called blue beans) are a rare variation of the green bean and come in both pole and bush beans. The beans are characterized above all by a dark purple pod and are available under the variety names 'Purpel Teepee' or 'Purpiat'. Unfortunately, the beans are only a real eye-catcher in the garden: their color quickly changes from purple to green in boiling water.
3. Pepper
The peppers are already available in green, yellow and red. Now the classic paprika traffic light has been expanded to include another colour: violet. From purple to almost black, there are paprika varieties such as 'Macho', 'Lilac Bell' or 'Nocturne' to choose from. Especially in combination with other types of peppers, the purple varieties look particularly exotic and unusual.
2. Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi is very popular as a raw food for in between meals. But did you know that there is a distinction between green and purple kohlrabi when it comes to varieties? The violet kohlrabi enchants with a brightly colored skin and is also much more intense in taste. Unfortunately, the inside of the vegetable is not quite as colorful and can hardly be distinguished from the green variety. In the garden, the kohlrabi is a nice, colorful change for the vegetable patch.
1. Cauliflower
Cauliflower is not only available in boring white: the vegetable can also be colorful and offers varieties with yellow, orange and purple heads. But the whole thing has nothing to do with genetic engineering - the colors come from the accumulation of ingredients in the florets - in the case of the purple cauliflower from anthocyanins, which also occur in red cabbage. Unfortunately, the color of the colorful heads can fade a bit during cooking, but careful blanching or a dash of vinegar in the cooking water can prevent this.
Tip: An important prerequisite for a rich vegetable harvest is the right substrate. It is best to use a high-quality organic soil such as our peat-free Plantura organic tomato and vegetable soil, which is optimally tailored to the needs of the vegetable plants.
Are you now curious, andWould you like to grow one of these vegetables yourself? Then you will find our best tips for growing vegetables here.