Blueberry pancakes, marinated red peppers, tomato salsa, a papaya smoothie, blue corn tortillas, and zucchini muffins aren’t just great taste treats, they’re good for you.  It’s all in the color.

One of the best authorities on color cooking is cookbook author Jeanne Jones.  She’s been consulting with clients such as Loews Coronado Bay Resort, The Golden Door, Canyon Ranch Health Resorts, and The Four Seasons Hotels to develop menus and recipes that reflect her passion for healthful eating.

For Loews Coronado, she introduced a colorful sea spa menu that reflects the point of view of many nutrition experts: having a multitude of colors on your plate every day is the key to healthy eating.  All those colors have very healthful properties.  Here are some of the basics:

YELLOW/ORANGE

They contain antioxidants such as vitamin C and carotenes and bioflavonoids.
 

GREEN

The green group contains sulforaphane, isocyanate, and indole, which help the liver break down and excrete carcinogens.
 

BLUE

This pigment is packed with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and cancer-fighting chemicals.






RED

Lycopene, an antioxidant, protects against prostate and other cancers, as well and heart and lung disease.  Anthocyanins also are powerful antioxidants that may inhibit blood clot formation.

 

PURPLE

Purple also contains anthocyanins; purple foods may help delay onset of Alzheimer’s disease, and lower risk of some cancers.
 

EVERY COLOR EVERY DAY

“Incorporating different colors into your daily menu is fun and doable,” says Jones, whose website, www.jeannejones.com has lots of color-oriented recipes.  “Just thinking this way makes going to the grocery store more fun, and it makes it easier to get young kids to eat more healthfully because they’ll enjoy a colorful plate.

“This is a very old-fashioned idea,” she says.  “Long ago, grandmothers were saying that if you eat something of every color every day, you’ll have a balanced diet. 

Research has proved that they’re right.”
 

 
Caron Golden is an award-winning freelance writer who has enjoyed years of travel writing, with visits to Australia, Canada (both coasts), England, France, Amsterdam, Baja California and lots of U.S. cities.  Caron is also a passionate foodie and first-class gourmet shopper. 

She shares her food finds daily on www.SanDiegoFoodstuff.com and on Gourmet Club Friday afternoons at 1:00 PST (www.signonradio.com ), where she is a regular guest host.