Purple Brussels Sprouts Delivery or Pickup

Purple brussels sprouts have green leaves with purple veins and tips. Their colors range from bright violet to reddish purple to a darker shade. In many ways, they look more like flower buds than vegetables. Purple brussels sprouts are a type of cabbage, and they look like purple mini cabbages. They're also related to kale, and the leaves look like kale or spinach. The brussels sprouts grow as buds near the stalk of each plant.

People have been enjoying brussels sprouts since the 5th century, and they got their name from Brussels, Belgium, in the 13th century. Purple brussels sprouts are hybrids between purple cabbage and regular green brussels sprouts. A Dutch botanist developed the first purple brussels sprouts in the 1940s, and The Netherlands is still the largest producer in Europe. The purple brussels sprout cultivars available include Ruby Crunch, Red Bull, Rubine, and Falstaff.

Purple brussels sprouts are available from stores through Instacart all year, and you can find them at local gardens or farmer's markets in fall and winter. Purple brussels sprouts often have looser leaves than green ones, but you should still avoid any that look wilted or discolored. You may see more size variation in purple Brussels sprout heads than you would with regular brussels sprouts, and they're usually 1 to 2 inches wide. You may see bags of sprout heads or stalks with the sprouts still attached in stores.

Purple brussels sprouts have the best flavor if the plants were exposed to frost, and they can withstand cold temperatures. You can store fresh purple brussels sprouts in your refrigerator's vegetable crisper for up to five days, or you can freeze them.

You can eat purple brussels sprouts raw or cooked. They have a sweet, earthy, slightly nutty flavor, and they usually taste less bitter than green brussels sprouts. You should rinse off the purple brussels sprouts that you get through Instacart right before you use them. Before cooking, add a small amount of vinegar to help maintain the bright purple color, and chop up your purple brussels sprouts into uniform pieces for more even heating. The insides of the sprouts are usually purple and white.

You can add purple brussels sprouts to a salad or slaw, or you can steam, stir-fry, bake, or roast them. Add purple brussels sprouts to vegetable soup, put them in a cheesy casserole, or cook them with apples, pecans, and some maple syrup.

You can also saute them with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper until they're lightly browned on the outside but still mostly purple. These vegetables make excellent garnishes for almost any main course, and they can make the next meal you serve look stunning.