Cooking Red or Purple Vegetables

If you want to intensify the color, add a weak acid such as lemon juice or vinegar to these vegetables when you cook them.

The red, blue and purple pigments found in vegetables such as red cabbage, radishes and beets dissolve easily when they are cooked. Tap water that contains a lot of minerals may cause an even greater color change in these vegetables.

If you want to intensify the color, add a weak acid such as lemon juice or vinegar to these vegetables when you cook them.

Try these suggestions to retain the color and flavor of red and purple vegetables:

• Cook red vegetables in a moderate amount of lightly salted water.
• Cook them with the lid on.
• Add lemon juice, orange juice or diluted vinegar to make the color brighter red.
• When you are cooking beets, leave the skin on, roots on and part of the stem intact. If you don't, much of the color will dissolve in the cooking water.
• Peel beets after cooking.
• To keep cabbage from turning blue when it's cooked, add an apple, a little lemon juice or a little vinegar during cooking.

For more information on cooking red or purple vegetables contact your local county Extension office.