Trend Watch: It's Raining Purple

It turns out that purple is the new black.

Purple lovers, unite! We’ve spied (and tasted) a bunch of products made from antioxidant-packed purple corn and are happy to report much of it is really good!

Purple corn ( maize morado) is native to Peru and a great source of the antioxidants known as anthocyanins, also found in blueberries. And just like yellow corn, it’s really diverse. The corn can be dried and milled into flour, which you can bake with to make things like cornbread or corn muffins. You can also look for products like Late July purple corn tortilla chips, popcorn kernels and even Back to the Roots stone-ground cereal flakes. In some specialty food stores, you can even find the dried purple corncobs, which can boiled and softened to make purple pudding for dessert or the popular Peruvian drink chicha de maiz morado, which is made by boiling the corncobs in water along with various fruits, like pineapple and quince, plus sugar and spices.

Have you seen any purple corn products in your grocery store? Let us know in the comments below!

Leah Brickley is a Nutritionist-Recipe Developer for Food Network Kitchen.

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