Strangely-colored fruits and veggies

September 5, 2005 9:08 PM

What fruits and vegetables do you know of that come in "odd" colors?

I know that parsnips look rather like white carrots. I have seen and eaten purple sweet potatoes, but I have to admit the purple and the white peppers were new to me. And then the black radish!
What other fruits and vegetables (or any other fresh foodstuffs, really) come in a "traditional" color and a "non-traditional" color(s)?

posted by oflinkey to Food & Drink (45 answers total)

Purple carrots.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:20 PM on September 5, 2005

This year I grew yellow watermelon.
posted by jrossi4r at 9:20 PM on September 5, 2005

Blood oranges (dark red inside)
Yellow raspberries
White asparagus (grown w/o light).
posted by slimslowslider at 9:21 PM on September 5, 2005

There are also white peaches and white cranberries.
posted by jrossi4r at 9:24 PM on September 5, 2005

Tomatoes come in yellow, purple, and green, too.
posted by unixrat at 9:27 PM on September 5, 2005

I just had orange tomatoes this week. There's also yellow zucchini.
posted by birdsquared at 9:35 PM on September 5, 2005

White /yellow plums and white eggplants and white pumpkins. Hey, there's red okra and black tomatoes too.
posted by PY at 9:37 PM on September 5, 2005

Red and green bananas. White corn, though that doesn't strike me as strange.
posted by PY at 9:41 PM on September 5, 2005

Pink bananas.
posted by tellurian at 9:43 PM on September 5, 2005

Blue corn.
posted by PY at 9:43 PM on September 5, 2005

White tomatoes.
posted by tellurian at 9:51 PM on September 5, 2005

Golden Raspberry.
posted by tellurian at 9:57 PM on September 5, 2005

Apple green eggplants and, maybe falling under the fresh foodstuffs category, black sesame seeds.

Black corn
Pink corn
posted by PY at 10:04 PM on September 5, 2005

mr_crash_davis, purple carrots are normal. It's the orange ones that are strange.
posted by Guy Smiley at 10:21 PM on September 5, 2005

Purple cauliflower.
posted by misteraitch at 11:34 PM on September 5, 2005

I have been served yellow, not orange, carrots. Personally, I see nothing unusual about a white cranberry.
posted by Cranberry at 11:37 PM on September 5, 2005

Orange cauliflower.
posted by tellurian at 11:51 PM on September 5, 2005

Red and purple garlic. Black and red rice.
posted by PY at 12:18 AM on September 6, 2005

Blue beans and Blue potatoes.
posted by tellurian at 12:45 AM on September 6, 2005

Purple asparagus.
posted by tellurian at 12:50 AM on September 6, 2005

gold kiwifruit
posted by PY at 12:58 AM on September 6, 2005

rainbow chard
posted by Pigpen at 2:09 AM on September 6, 2005

In the citrus family (in addition to blood oranges, above), there are pink-to-reddish grapefruit, such as the Ruby Red. Key limes are thought of as yellow (which is juice often is), but they're usually picked early. Ripe Key limes are pale green. And, just yesterday, I saw a flat of orange lemons! Size and shape of ordinary Meyer lemons, rind the color of ripe oranges. This is in New Zealand, so it may be a new Kiwi or Aussie variety.
posted by rob511 at 2:59 AM on September 6, 2005

Golden beets and white beets, and Siberian brown tomatoes!

At One Green World you can buy sea berries (in German, Russian, or Buryatian varieties, to keep things interesting) and red kiwis and such. Their catalog makes me want to grow a huge surreal garden.
posted by oldtimey at 4:05 AM on September 6, 2005

Purple basil and striped beets
posted by Pigpen at 4:26 AM on September 6, 2005

I grew some chocolate brown tomatoes this year - an heirloom variety. Not as productive as a modern hybrid, but very sweet.
posted by zadcat at 6:54 AM on September 6, 2005

Pick up an heirloom vegetable seed catalog – the colors that we think of as "normal" are often just the variety that stays fresh long enough for commercial market conditions.
posted by letitrain at 9:49 AM on September 6, 2005

Sadly, purple peppers turn green when they are cooked.
posted by amarynth at 10:37 AM on September 6, 2005

I had Lemon Cucumbers for the first time at the farmer's market this weekend. Tastes just like regular green cucumbers but looks like a lemon (sort of).
posted by babypoe at 11:31 AM on September 6, 2005

red pineapple
posted by PY at 1:17 PM on September 6, 2005

Black potatoes.
posted by tellurian at 4:21 PM on September 6, 2005

Purple string beans, but they turn green when cooked.
posted by exceptinsects at 4:43 PM on September 6, 2005

More of that chard... Wow!
posted by Savannah at 8:27 PM on September 6, 2005

Purple broccoli
posted by PY at 12:31 AM on September 7, 2005

White broccoli
posted by tellurian at 7:01 AM on September 7, 2005

Red spinach
posted by PY at 3:01 PM on September 7, 2005

White peas
posted by tellurian at 4:35 PM on September 7, 2005

Blue pumpkins
posted by PY at 5:01 PM on September 7, 2005

Holstein peas. "Very unique, this pea is mottled half black and half white, just like a Holstein cow."
posted by tellurian at 5:38 PM on September 7, 2005

Black garbanzo beans
posted by PY at 5:50 PM on September 7, 2005

'Minidor' Yellow Bush Bean.
posted by tellurian at 6:00 PM on September 7, 2005

Black peppermint
posted by PY at 6:10 PM on September 7, 2005

Striped tomatoes
posted by tellurian at 6:21 PM on September 7, 2005

Oops! Double [PY YOU WIN]
posted by tellurian at 6:24 PM on September 7, 2005

Black and white kidney beans. [Ok, but it didn't stop you before.]
posted by PY at 6:33 PM on September 7, 2005