Unicorn noodles are so easy to make and completely magical to watch the colours change from purple to pink. My kind of Chemistry Lesson! They are made using all-natural colouring and would be perfect for kids in the kitchen. With the current restrictions in place, there may be many parents looking for more creative and healthy ways to entertain their kids. Make sure to share this recipe with your friends. I have posted these a few times over on my Instagram but thought I would put the recipe up here for easy reference.
Roughly chop the red cabbage. Use the outer leaves with a deeper colour.
Add water and cabbage to a pot and bring to the boil. Let it simmer for 5-10 mins bruising the cabbage with a wooden spoon.
Remove the cabbage and discard (compost).
Add the noodles to the purple water and turn over until they spread out in the pot and are fully submerged in liquid.
Turn the heat off and cover the pot for 10-15 minutes until the noodles have absorbed all the liquid.
Stir the noodles and strain off the excess liquid if there is any.
Place your noodles in a bowl and before serving roughly squeeze the lemon over the purple noodles and the acidity will change the colour to pink.
Notes
The more cabbage leaves you use the deeper the colour will be. The key is to get the noodles to absorb all the liquid so don’t add too much water at the start.Try using the noodles to make rice paper rolls or serve as a side dish to a Thai Curry.
Keyword unicorn food, unicorn noodles
SURE TO IMPRESS
These Unicorn Noodles are a great way to get kids interested in cooking! Let their imagination run wild and give them their own slice of lemon to colour change the noodles. Not only for kids these Unicorn Noodles are also a great way to add theatre to the dinner table if you are hosting family or friends. I love creating meals that stand out from the rest and get people talking. We eat with our eyes and colourful food always sparks so much more joy at the table.
You can also use the absorption method to cook white long-grain rice in the purple liquid as well. Check out my other recipes for Unicorn Rice below.
I would love to see your Unicorn noodle creations so be sure to tag me on Facebook or Instagram and let me know how you go!
Unicorn noodles are so easy to make and completely magical to watch the colours change from purple to pink. My kind of Chemistry Lesson! They are made using all-natural colouring…
Unicorn Rice Salad is the perfect dish for entertaining! It’s such a fun dish and so easy to prepare! I’m not one for strict recipes so this one is super…
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DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!
I am loving growing my own fresh Beetroots but I had no idea how to use the leaves other than adding a little into a stirfry or composting. I am passionate about creating ways to get the most out of everything that I grow! After all, a lot of time, patience and effort went into growing it! These Dolmades completely blew my mind – absolutely delicious! I made this with my purple unicorn rice but you can use plain rice. These can also be made using Rainbow Chard leaves.
Also if you only have liquid vegetable stock just replace with the water in step 1.
Ingredients
1 large freshly picked Beetroot
3/4 cup Long-grain Rice
2-3 Red Cabbage leaves
4 teaspoons Vegetable Stock Powder
1/4 Red Onion
1 small Lemon
1/2 cup Parsley
1/2 packet Haloumi
1/4 dried Cranberries
Ricotta (or greek yoghurt), lemon juice and chopped parsley to serve.
Method
Add 1 1/2 cups of water and the cabbage leaves to a saucepan with a lid and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes and gently stir and bruise the cabbage with a spoon a few times to release the colour.
While your purple water is boiling, finely chop your red onion and fry in a small saucepan. Set aside to cool.
Strain the cabbage water into a bowl and discard the leaves (compost). Measure the purple water back into your saucepan and make sure you have 1 cup. Add a little more if it has evaporated.
Quickly rinse your rice under water to remove some of the starch and then add to your purple water along with 2 teaspoons of vegetable stock powder and lighter simmer for 10minutes. remove from the heat and set aside to cool. The rice should be nearly cooked and most of the liquid should be absorbed.
Rinse your beetroot leaves and cut off the stems ( i will work on a recipe for these next but for now future stirfry).
Get a dish (casserole size) and fill with cold water and ice.
In a large saucepan add water and bring to the boil. Place your beet leaves into the boiling water and submerge for about 1 minute. The colour will change to a vibrant green.
Carefully remove the leaves and place directly into the ice bath so that they stop cooking and retain their vibrant colour.
Once they have cooled down after a minute or so remove the leaves and lay them flat on to a tea towel to dry off a bit. You may need to use a couple of tea towels depending on how many leaves you to have and how big they are.
Into a bowl add the zest of one lemon, chopped parsley, cooked red onion, haloumi chopped into small pieces, cranberries and purple rice. Mix to combine and then squeeze over 1/4 wedge of lemon juice.
Lay your beet leaves shiny side down and add a small amount of mixture to the base near the stem. Fold the sides in and then roll-up.
Once all your mixture is used, place your rolled Dolmades with the end piece on the bottom into a large saucepan.
Drizzle with oil and mix the last two teaspoons of vegetable stock with one cup of water and add to the saucepan. Cover and simmer for 10-15mins.
Serve with greek yoghurt, tzatziki or I used Ricotta mixed with lemon juice and chopped parsley.
If you have any ideas for using Beetroot Leaves leave me a comment below! Tag me on Instagram if you make these delicious Dolmades, I would love to see your versions.
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!
Unicorn Rice Salad is the perfect dish for entertaining! It’s such a fun dish and so easy to prepare! I’m not one for strict recipes so this one is super flexible and you can adjust the vegetables to whatever is in season or available.
Unicorn Rice
3-4 Red Cabbage leaves (Use the outside leaves you would normally discard. They are richer in colour and you can get some use before they hit the compost).
1 1/4 Cups White Jasmine Rice
Pinch of Salt
2 1/2 Cups water
To make the Purple Rice roughly chop the red cabbage leaves into quarters. Place in a saucepan with 2 1/2 cups of water and a pinch of salt.
Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Stir and bruise the cabbage a few times to release the colour.
Strain into a bowl and discard the cabbage leaves to the compost.
Measure the liquid back into the saucepan in relation to how much is needed for the rice. You may need to top up with a little water if your purple liquid has evaporated. I used the absorption method so that the rice absorbed all the liquid and colour (If you have a rice cooker use that).
To cook the rice I first rinsed the 1 1/4 cups of rice with water to remove some starch and then added to the purple liquid. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer with a lid on for about 5 minutes stirring regularly. Reduce heat right down to the lowest setting and let the rice absorb all the liquid. You may have to add a little more water if needed.
Once the unicorn rice is cooked quickly rinse under water to remove extra starch. The colour should stay but try to rinse minimally.
Salad
2 cups of finely sliced red cabbage
2 orange carrots peeled and grated
1/2 Beetroot peeled and grated
1/2 Cup of parsley roughly chopped
1-2 Cups of chopped garden greens I used colourful Rainbow Chard.
1/2 pomegranate
1 Watermelon Radish (optional)
5 Snow Peas finely sliced
2 Purple Carrots peeled and thinly sliced on Mandoline
Edible Flowers to serve (Nasturtium, Pansey, Marigold, Calendula)
1/2 Lemon cut into 2 wedges
1 Packet of Haloumi, fried and cut into cubes (any protein could be added)
Your favourite Salad Dressing ( Mine is Japanese Sesame Dressing)
The Salad is totally flexible and just use whatever colourful vegetables you have growing in the garden or available to you. The above is just what I used and had in my garden at the time.
Add the sliced Red Cabbage, grated Beetroot and Orange Carrots into a bowl and mix well.
Lay your purple rice out on a platter and make a well in the centre (push more rice to the edges so you can see it when the salad is on top).
Sprinkle the chopped parsley on the rice.
Place your Red Cabbage mix along the centre of the rice.
Top with the rest of your veggies, Haloumi, Pomegranate, and edible flowers.
Serving
To serve up your salad add your dressing. In front of your guests squeeze quartered lemon wedges over the salad and rice. This will start to turn the rice hot pink!
Magic π
If you make my Unicorn Rice Salad be sure to tag me on Instagram @sustainable_holly so I can see your beautiful creations! Get Creative!
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!
