From the “Proven Recipes” folder;
When I was young I read (and re-read) a book called Last of the Mountain Men, which since seems to have been revealed as a bunch of romantic nonsense, but it certainly made an impression (on me as well as others, apparently) and did contain some legitimate gems of information hard to find in the era when it was published.
The book mentions Purple Potatoes as having been associated with the Incas and tasting better than white potatoes. For some reason that lodged in my memory, though it was a long, long time before I ever saw one. In recent years they’re starting to become available in some grocery stores, grown in the US. They are supposed to be more nutritious than standard white potatoes, which doesn’t strike me as unlikely.
As it said in the book, they are indeed purple and do indeed turn blue when you cook them, though both colors are very dark, the resulting cooked potatoes are basically Navy Blue (Hamilton/Nelson blue, if you know the story).
The first time I cooked them with this recipe, I was pretty pleased with the result myself, but I wasn’t sure how they’d go over. They do look pretty weird. They went over really well. Works as a side dish for meat, or as a vegan/vegetarian main dish if you like it.
– RtW
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Makes plenty as a side for two
Ingredients:
water
oil
salt
fresh-ground pepper
a dash of cayenne or sriracha
About 10 oz purple potatoes (usually 2, sometimes 3, they’re small to very small by Idaho standards, don’t add much more without adjusting other ingredients)
1 Granny Smith apple
1 Yellow (Vidalia, sweet, whatever) onion, or 1/2 a very large one
1/2 bunch kale (3-4 large leaves)
2 tablespoons sliced or slivered almonds
1 tablespoon whole grain dijon mustard
Preparation:
wash kale and potatoes
medium/large dice the potatoes (about half-inch cubes)
peel and medium dice the onion
peel, core and small dice the apple
remove and discard the kale stems, coarsely chop
Cook:
In a pan heat 3-4 teaspoons of oil on medium-high until hot.
Add the potatoes, lightly season with salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes or until browned (mostly dark blue) and mostly softened not quite to taste and certainly not mushy.
Add the onion to the pan, season lightly with salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes or until softened.
Add the kale, apple and 2 or 3 tablespoons of water, season lightly with salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring occasionally, 2 to 4 minutes or until the kale has wilted.
Add the almonds, mustard and 2 tablespoons of water and a SMALL dash of cayenne.
Cook, stirring FREQUENTLY, 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until thoroughly combined.
Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine.