Purple Power, ACTIVATE!

Grape Smoothie

It's Friday and not only do I need all the power I can get to deal with the busy upcoming day, I love the color purple. It's so regal and lush and, well, purple. Come to find out, purple foods are pretty powerful super-foods. They fight cancer, fight aging. Some health web sites say they even fight stress and weight gain.  These guys are are pretty powerful and sounds like they are ready to protect us from the bad guys lurking around in our system. So today, let's do a duo of purple recipes and activate purple power!

A Grape Smoothie

I've enjoyed this smoothie again and again. It tastes like a grape popsicle. Mmmmm

Fresh plain yogurt

frozen grapes

fresh concord grape juice

honey

*I usually keep some fruit in the freezer. Instead of using ice cubes in my smoothies, I throw in some frozen fruit. It's extra flavor and vitamins and my smoothies aren't watered down.

Purple Cabbage and Noodles

My parents are of Eastern European decent so it was common for us to eat lots of cabbage. However, my mom never really ventured outside of the usual green heads. We loved stuffed cabbage. We loved cabbage and noodles. I also remember a dish we had that used egg noodles mixed with something called "dry cottage cheese" It was a very simple recipe but sometimes, it's the simple ones that are the best. They let the quality of each ingredient shine. I asked her one time about mixing the 2 recipes together and creating a cabbage and noodle with her dry cottage cheese combination. She almost fell over. It was almost like speaking sacrilage, mixing together or experimenting with recipes just wasn't done....at least in this case. But today, it's time to be a rebel and break out of that pale green for a bright purple instead. I happened to have a package of egg noodles that are green and made from herbs...purple and green together, a very pretty combination. To top it off, I have had a wedge of ricotta salata sitting in my fridge for a week, wondering what to do with it. It looks a bit like the dry cottage cheese mom used to use but it's a little saltier. I think I'll throw that in too! Red cabbage tends to be a little sweeter than the green so the combination of sweet and salty ended up going together really well....

a head of red cabbage

a red onion

pkg egg noodles (I used a 7 herb egg noodle)

butter and olive oil

salt and pepper

ricotta salata

Slice cabbage and onions thin.

Heat butter and olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.

Add onions and cabbage and sprinkle salt over them.

Cover for 10-15 minutes and let cabbage braise until it's softened.

Remove lid and let the liquid cook out of the cabbage.

Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, boil a pot a well salted water.

Add noodles.

Cook until al dente.

Drain Pasta, then mix with the cabbage.

Add a few pats of butter to the mixture.

Mix well. 

Taste and adjust salt and pepper....remember, the ricotta is salty too...

Crumble the ricotta salata on top and serve.

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