4 Natural Food Colorings
As you probably know, we eat with our eyes 👀 first. If the food is nicely displayed plus has nice color, this, subconsciously, triggers our appetite. I don’t know how many times I was at a restaurant, already decided on what I’d be eating until I saw a waiter delivering plates to another table and then… changed my mind!
To enhance colors in food, there are commercial colorings that we find in the spice/baking aisle of our grocery stores. Unfortunately these food-dye blends are hazardous to our health containing certain chemicals that are related to cancer, lymphomas, asthma, allergies, thyroid, brain 🧠 & bladder tumors, and much more.
The best way to use coloring in food without damaging our health is by using natural ingredients. In this episode, I’m sharing with you the 4 Natural Food Colorings which I sometimes use in my recipes. Each color doesn’t take too much time ⏳ to make and the results are pretty close to the commercial ones.
I actually rarely use food-dyes in my recipes. When I do, I use my 4 Natural Food Colorings mostly for baking like in my Red Velvet Cake 🍰 or my Chocolate Mint Nanaimo Bars. Occasionally, I might add one of these colorings in cold treats such as Lemon Gelato or in canning like my Mint Jelly.
Although I showed you 4 Natural Food Colorings, depending on the recipe, I might substitute a liqueur instead. A great green coloring to use is Green Crème de Menthe. For blue, I like to use Parfait Amour which is another liqueur from France. Cherry Brandy is also a great substitute when you need to add red in your food. To intensify the color yellow, there is Galliano that can be used or Limoncello 🍋 and Banana Liqueur. Of course, adding any of them will definitely alter the taste of the food…
For each color, I use only one ingredient but there’s others that can be utilised. For Green, besides spinach, use artichokes or mint leaves. To obtain Yellow, swap the turmeric for paprika or use lemon peels. When it comes to Pink or Red, use pomegranate, raspberries or rose (and pink) petals 🌹. I use blueberries to create the Purple color but blackberries, purple yam or purple cabbage are great options.
A color I didn’t show and I thought of it after the video was already on YouTube is Orange. I like using carrots 🥕 or butternut seeds. I’ve heard onion skins can do the trick but I never tried it.
Next time you want to enhance your food visually by using dye without compromising your family’s health 💚, make one of these easy 4 Natural Food Colorings. If you need more info when it comes to cooking beets, click on this link Beets ~ Prep & 4 Ways to Cook
Bon Appétit!🍽
Check out these great healthy recipes…😀
– Strawberry Salad
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– Moroccan Zaalouk
and for even more healthy recipes 💚, click on this link… Recipe Category • Healthy
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4 Natural Food Coloring
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Ingredients
GREEN FOOD COLORING
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- 2 tbsp. water, or more if needed
YELLOW FOOD COLORING
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp. ground turmeric
PURPLE FOOD COLORING
- 1/2 cup fresh blueberries tips & tricks
- 2 tbsp. water, or more if needed
PINK FOOD COLORING
- 3 medium beets, peeled and cut into small pieces tips & tricks
- enough water to cover
Directions
GREEN FOOD COLORING
- In the jar of a blender, add thawed spinach with water and process until smooth.
- Pour spinach into a fine sieve sitting over a bowl. Using a spatula, move it around so the liquid drains faster; discard what’s left in the sieve.
- Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator (*see footnote).
YELLOW FOOD COLORING
- In a small pot over medium heat, combine water and turmeric. Whisk to combine and bring to a simmer; cook for 3 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture into an airtight container and cool completely before storing in the refrigerator (*see footnote).
PURPLE FOOD COLORING
- In the jar of a blender, add blueberries with water and process until smooth.
- Pour blueberries into a fine sieve sitting over a bowl. Using a spatula, move around so the liquid drains faster; discard what’s left in the sieve.
- Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator (*see footnote).
PINK FOOD COLORING
- in a medium pot, add beets and pour in enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer and cook until the beets are tender.
- Remove from the heat and strain the liquid into an airtight container.
- Cool completely before storing in the refrigerator (*see footnote).
Notes
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Everything you make look so yummy!!!
Thank you Trixie for your lovely comment ♥