Roasted Purple Potatoes: The End of the Veggie Rainbow

Despite the extra time I put in over the last seven days for Eat the Veggie Rainbow Week, I think I’m actually going to miss it. (At least a little.) While I’m ready to get back to some of my regularly scheduled vegetables, eating by color was a great way to stretch my veggie boundaries and enjoy some culinary eye candy. Plus, having consumed all those plant pigments, I feel healthier already—anthocyanins and cartenoids and chlorophylls, oh my!

Speaking of plant pigments, finding a blue/indigo/violet veggie besides red cabbage (which seemed too predictable) to wrap up the week was definitely a challenge: the only one that came to mind was the illustrious purple potato! (Okay, and eggplant, but that doesn’t stay purple after you cook it.) Of course, a quick ex post facto internet search revealed that carrots, kohlrabi, and asparagus all come in purple, too—maybe I’ll give one of those a go next year.

As for this year, I learned that purple potatoes are a bit of a niche veggie—I had to drive thirty minutes to Balducci’s to find them! But they’re so goshdarned pretty that I’ll certainly be making them again (especially if they magically show up—on sale—at my neighborhood grocery store or farmer’s market).

I can’t say I’ve ever made purple potatoes before, so I read up a bit before preparing them to avoid any surprises. (Like anyone can really do that when cooking’s involved!) Apparently amethyst spuds cook up just like any other potatoes, although I read one place that boiling blue potatoes can make them turn gray (yep, blue potatoes—who knew?). So be on the safe side, I decided to stick with roasting.
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Roasted Purple Fingerling Potatoes with Rosemary

I found potato roasting time and temperature guidelines in Perfect Vegetables, the go-to guide by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated (although I found that my potatoes didn’t need to go for quite as long as they suggested). Since I love rosemary with potatoes, but didn’t have any fresh on hand, I used dry, per the Roasted Rosemary-Onion Potatoes recipe in Betty Crocker’s Cookbook (yep, the Big Red one). Still pretty….tasty.

Prep time: 50 minutes (10 minutes hands-on) Serves: 2 (generously)

Ingredients:
1 pound purple fingerling potatoes (or other small purple potatoes)
~~1½ Tbsp olive oil (no need to be precise)~~ cooking spray (I use olive oil in a Misto)

1½ tsp dried rosemary

~~¼ tsp salt~~ sprinkle of salt (to taste)

freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425^oF.

Wash, scrub, and dry potatoes. Admire their pretty color (you probably paid extra for it).

I snapped this while the potatoes were still wet. Gorgeous!

Cut potatoes into ¾-inch pieces. Admire their pretty inner color. (Milk those grocery $$$!)

In a medium bowl, toss potatoes first with ~~olive oil~~ a spritz of cooking spray, then with rosemary, salt, and pepper.

Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet (nonstick works well), and cover tightly with foil.

Roast for 20 minutes covered, then uncover and roast for 10 minutes more. Flip the potatoes over with a spatula and roast for another 5-10 minutes, until they’re as crispy as you like them. Serve straight out of the oven.

Admire that gorgeous amethyst color one last time. Dig in!

NOTE: This recipe has been updated as of 8-6-13 to decrease the fat and salt content. To your health!