Purple Pleasures: Purple Carrots, Purple Beets, Purple Cabbage, Purple Onion Relish

Summer is the only time we visit the farm often, naturally. During each of these farm visits that are primarily focused on berry-picking, I exercise my right to loiter in the market attached to the farm, mentally salivating and resisting the urge to grab a bunch of each and every single produce there. That is, until the other adult gently but insistently escorts me to the checkout.

While the escort maneuvre was in progress last weekend, I held up a bunch of purple carrots grinning from ear to ear. But you have a pound of carrots at home already, he reasoned. Ah, but they are not purple, I clarified. You are going to be eating a lot of carrots this week, the wise septuagenarian co-shopper explained to him genially, all the while beaming at me. I could have hugged her right then.

The bright purples were irresistible at the farm market and so they came home with me, with no particular agenda except to use them as wisely as possible: purple carrots, purple cabbage, purple beets, purple onions. Well, sometimes the cabbage and beets fall under the "red foods" category, but, they seemed quite the purple to me this time so purple they shall be.

Ingredients

¼ cup finely chopped garlic

2 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1 medium purple/red onion grated

1 cup grated purple cabbage

2 cups grated purple beets

2 cups grated purple carrots

Flavoring:

1 cup white vinegar

½ cup cider vinegar

¼ cup balsamic

1 teaspoon dried caraway seeds or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed

1 Tablespoon red hot chili powder or ground black pepper (adjust to taste)

4 Tbsp brown sugar

salt to taste

¼ cup oil

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a pan, add garlic, ginger and onions, saute till aromatic
2. Add the grated beets, carrots, cabbage, some salt, and stir in the rest of the flavoring ingredients
3. Allow to simmer till liquid evaporates and the relish comes together to a coarse spreadable consistency
4. Taste and adjust seasoning
5. To preserve it, canning is done in a boiling water bath, just standard procedure

Ways to savor the Purple Carrot Beet Relish:

1. Mix with goat cheese and cream cheese and use it as a sandwich spread
2. Stir some in with thick Greek yogurt and use it as a Wrap sauce
3. Add a dollop of it to crackers and enjoy with cheese
4. Toss some cooked pasta with the beet relish, top with feta or other favorite cheese and enjoy a quick tasty meal minus the tomato sauce
5. Spread it on a pita or naan, top with avocado, watercress, snow peas and spring onions, fold in half or roll it up