violet vegetables

I went to the grocery store in an adventurous mood and left with two tomatillos and three potatoes of an extremely abnormal color. When you clean them, the skin is dark indigo and actually shimmers. When you cut them, the flesh looks streaked with red wine. And when you cook them, ah! They arrive in all their shocking, purple glory.

I sliced, boiled, and sautéed them, then sprinkled them with shredded asiago cheese. Daniel and I spent most of our time at the dinner table trying to pin down the very subtle differences between the violet variety and the all-purpose yellow kind. We decided that they’re strangely creamy and bit softer in flavor.

But the greatest discovery is that these babies would make a beautiful mess of mashed potatoes, and nothing could be more delightful than serving our next dinner guests a pile of purple mush with absolutely no explanation. Imagine the awkward small talk!