I was so excited about the multi-colored green beans I bought at the farmer’s market I decided to try some multicolored potatoes. I’ve recently heard such wonderful things about purple potatoes, I knew I had to add them to my diet. Like most deep-hued produce, they are full of nutrients. They contain anthocyanins, which gives them their dark pigment. Anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants. In addition to potatoes being good for you with their potassium and fiber, the purple potato has blood-pressure lowering phytochemicals.
This is great news for someone (er, me…) who loves potatoes. Seriously, potatoes are one of my favorite foods. Right up there with chocolate and red wine. And I’m sick of potatoes getting such a bad rap. They are are a whole, plant-based food. You can’t go wrong adding potatoes in moderation to your diet, especially the purple kind (not the fried kind)! Believe me, I’ve lost 24 pounds over the past 9 months, and I ate moderate servings of potatoes at least twice a week the whole time.
I also have to mention that the other reason I love potatoes so much is that they love me. I have no issues at all digesting potatoes. From what I’ve heard, most people with fructose malabsorption don’t have issues with potatoes. So eat potatoes and don’t feel bad.
I wanted to try a new pork chop recipe (Marinated Baked Pork Chops from allrecipes.com) and purple potatoes seemed like just the thing to serve with it. The purple potatoes I found at the store were contained in a medley bag of fingerling potatoes. This reminded me of a recipe I’ve been wanting to try from my favorite Ina Garten cookbook (The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook) for fingerling potatoes. Perfect! I snatched them up. Fingerling potatoes are tender, creamy and buttery. Ina recommends not dressing them up too much to let their deliciousness shine. Shine they did. Here is my colorful version of that recipe.
Fingerling Potato Medley
serves 4
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds fingerling potatoes (mixture of yellow, red and purple), unpeeled
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Rinse potatoes and place in a large saucepan. Cover with water and add 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, just until tender.
- Drain potatoes into a strainer and cover with a kitchen towel (I used 2 layers of paper towels) and allow them to steam for 5 to 10 minutes.
- When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut each potato in half lengthwise. Place in a bowl and combine with remaining 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, pepper and olive oil. Toss and serve.
