Recipe: Roasted purple potatoes with Provencal herbs
Unlike some purple vegetables, these potatoes retain their color when roasted. Debbie Arrington
Lavender flowers are part of the distinctive mixture that makes up Herbs de Provence, which also includes rosemary, marjoram, thyme, savory and other herbs native to southern France. Combined with garlic salt and coarse ground black pepper, this herb mix is a flavorful complement to roast potatoes – no matter the color.
Purple potatoes taste much like their white- or yellow-fleshed cousins (their flavor and texture are usually compared to russets). They tend to cook a little faster and don’t need peeling. They can be substituted into almost any recipe that calls for a starchy potato.
The main difference: Antioxidants. Purple potatoes have about three times the antioxidants of a white-fleshed potato.
Purple potatoes get their distinctive hue from anthocyanin, the same compound found in blueberries. Half a baked purple potato has just as much of this antioxidant as a half cup of blueberries.
Unlike some colorful veggies, purple potatoes retain their rich color when cooked, which makes them a fun food to try. (Purple fries, anyone?)
Try these roasted purple potatoes as a side dish to grilled or roast meat, fish or chicken.
Provencal purple potatoes
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
1 pound purple potatoes, washed and eyes removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
½ cup chopped onion
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line a sheet pan with foil. Set aside.
Depending on size, cut purple potatoes into wedges or quarters.
In a large bowl, mix olive oil, herbs, garlic salt and pepper. Toss potatoes in herb mixture to coat and spread potatoes in foil-lined pan. Toss chopped onion in bowl with remaining oil and herbs, then add the onions to the potatoes in the sheet pan.
Bake in a 400-degree oven until the potatoes are fork tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve.
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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