“Eating your greens” suddenly seems so old-school. These days, produce is covering the rainbow with a variety of intense hues. “Colorful plates are increasingly popular, including everything from carrots to cauliflower,” says Robert Schueller, Director of Public Relations at Melissa’s Produce and “Produce Guru” for Cooking Light magazine. The color of the moment is purple, as chefs race to incorporate jewel tones to their entrées, sides and desserts. Here are a couple of the hottest new ways to add a touch of violet to your menu.

Ube

A common ingredient in Filipino cuisine, especially desserts, ube (pronounced OOO-bay), is a type of purple yam that’s become a photogenic social media darling, with violet-hued ube dishes popping up on Instagram feeds and Pinterest boards with increasing frequency. The frenzy’s ground zero might be Björn DelaCruz of Filipino restaurant Manila Social Club in Brooklyn, New York. (He has since opened an outpost in Miami Beach). He caused a sensation with his Golden Cristal Ube Donut, filled with ube mousse and champagne jelly, glazed in icing made with Cristal champagne, and covered with 24-carat gold, sold for $1,000 a dozen (he sells a gold-less and champagne free version for $40 a dozen).

Right now, the only thing stopping widespread ube use is a lack of availability. Even DelaCruz uses frozen, grated ube because he can’t rely on a regular supply of fresh tubers in New York. Powdered versions, used in baking and sauces, are available online.

Purple sweet potatoes

Another way to get that sweet, starchy and purple combo is by using purple sweet potatoes, which are grown domestically in the U.S. and are more widely available. “Even though we think of sweet potatoes as a fall item, they’re available year-round,” Schueller says. “They’ve been steadily growing in popularity since we introduced them three years ago.” They are also a more budget-conscious choice, costing only a little more than the traditional orange-hued garnet or jewel sweet potato. Somewhat starchier than traditional sweet potatoes, they require a longer cooking time. They not only hold their color during cooking, but turn an even darker shade of purple after being baked, roasted or boiled.

“They can be used as fries, in baking, and in sweet potato pie,” Schueller suggests. “I’m especially fond of them in a mash – you can swirl white, orange and purple colors together and get something really special.”

 

Resources

Manila Social Club

Melissa’s Produce

Read more

Filipino-American food writer Kristina Bustos digs into the ube trend for Paste

Recipes

Ube Cupcakes

 

Looking for more recipe ideas and menu inspiration? Make sure to check out our recipe section.

 

If you’re looking for a low-cost, versatile, shelf-stable protein that diners will actually want to eat, look no further than the chickpea. Back when they were called garbanzo beans, chickpeas were limited to languishing behind the sneeze shield at salad bars and making an occasional appearance in falafel. These days, they’re an in-demand ingredient for many appetizers, entrées, specialty flours and even desserts.

Flipping for chickpeas

“These legumes are grown across the globe and are used in just about every world cuisine,” says Marilyn Sarasqueta, Account Coordinator for California Beans, a website of the California Dry Beans Advisory Board. “You can find chickpea recipes in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Greek, Indian, Spanish and Portuguese cuisines, to name just a few. They pack a nutritional wallop, too, and they’re a low-fat, high-fiber, heart-healthy protein.” From a sustainability standpoint, chickpeas are a great menu option for customers seeing to make the “protein flip,” a movement to reduce consumption of red meat to a few ounces per week and switch to other animal and plant proteins with a smaller environmental footprint.

Aquafaba to the rescue

Indiana software engineer and vegan Goose Wohlt gets credit for the term “aquafaba,” which refers to the method of making meringue from the liquid that’s usually discarded from cans of beans and other legumes, such as chickpeas. It’s turning up as an egg substitute in baking, a thickener for soups and stews and as a foamy topping for many dishes. Chefs, both vegan and traditional, are experimenting with its ability to bind, emulsify, foam, gelatinize and thicken. There are more than 60,000 members of an aquafaba Facebook group that shares recipes and techniques.

From apps to desserts

Dry roasted, salted and seasoned, whole chickpeas are a wonderfully warm amuse bouche, bar snack or appetizer. For entrées, they’re a hearty addition to soups, stews, pastas and paella. As a puree, they can be used in baked goods like brownies or cookie dough to cut fat and boost fiber.

“I make my own chickpea flour by grinding dry chickpeas in my Vitamix,” Sarasqueta says. The flour adds both nuttiness and sweetness to recipes when used to substitute up to one-fourth of all-purpose or bread flour in recipes. Sarasqueta uses her chickpea flour for a variety of baking projects, from pancakes to banana bread.

 

Resources

California Beans

Have a great dry bean recipe you’re using in your operation? Enter to become a featured chef on the California Beans website

Aquafaba Facebook group

Read more

Greatest offers 32 brilliant ways to use chickpeas

The Washington Post looks into the aquafaba phenomenon

Bon Appetit offers tips on cooking with aquafaba

Protein Flip

Recipes

Curried Quinoa Salad

Poppyseed Pasta Salad

Veggie Burger

 

Looking for more recipe ideas and menu inspiration? Make sure to check out our recipe section.