What’s your favourite colour to wear? Well if you are in Mr NQN’s immediate family, the answer no doubt willl be purple. Mr NQN’s mother Tuulikki is so enamoured of the colour that come Christmas or a birthday we buy her something in purple. She even bonds with people if they are wearing purple.
We were at Mr NQN’s sister’s baby shower several months back and there was a woman who from the back looked and dressed exactly like Tuulikki. It’s a distinct look, there are several flowing layers, scarves of purple and silver jewellery and brown leather sandals. It turns out that Tuulikki had become friends with her when they had met on the Manly Ferry and noticed that they looked and dressed pretty much alike!
This recipe is for Tuulikki-not just for the colour but also because it is a simple, healthy vegan salad that can be made easily and I know Tuulikki doesn’t like to cook. I found these purple potatoes from Daly Gourmet Potatoes on a recent trip to Tasmania and they were gorgeous specimens along with the purple carrot that they also grow there. I used a few and am gifting the rest to Tuulikki. These purple potatoes that actually retain their colour aren’t easy to find. Most of them lose their colour quickly once they are cooked. I first saw this salad on Soma’s site and it has stayed in my memory ever since.
To keep the colour, these are best steamed whole without peeling. Some of the potatoes turned a navy blue colour as opposed to a purple whilst others remained purple which is a slight mystery to me. The potatoes themselves are waxy and hold their shape well and are very good for a salad. The salad was clean, refreshing and healthy so whilst I won’t be donning any flowing scarves, I did appreciate the gentle interplay between textures and flavours against the fruity dressing.
So tell me Dear Reader, what is your favourite colour to wear?
Purple Potato Salad
- 3 purple potatoes
- 2 pink potatoes
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 purple carrot, chopped
- 3 tablespoons pistachios
- 2 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup sun dried or fresh tomatoes
- 2-3 tablespoons sliced green onions
- 3 tablespoons lemon infused olive oil
- 3 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
1. Steam the potatoes whole until tender and then peel and dice the potatoes once cooled. Toss with the chopped carrot, pistachios, radishes, tomatoes and green onions. Mix the lemon olive oil and raspberry vinegar together and then season with salt and pepper.
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73 Comments | Add your own
That is such a colorful and pretty salad! I bet it is very enjoyable too.
Cheers,
Rosa
We have the purple potatoes, but the pink ones may be harder to find. It’s fun to toss them all together though because people do not expect to see all the new colors on their plates.
What a pretty salad, Lorraine!
I do adore purple, but my favorite colors to wear are red and turquoise and fuschia. They never fail to cheer me. 
Great colours – we often buy purple congo potatoes at the markets, so must give this a go. Thanks, Lorraine!
I’ve never had purple potatoes but they make this salad look so pretty! I love to wear pink because it always seems to brighten my mood, my next favourite colour to wear would have to be turquoise!
Ooh so this is how purple potatoes look like!
i love it, and i love purple!
I would love to dive right in and savor this presentation of healthfulness!
My favorite color is pink…. & now especially, I need some purples & pinks with all these men around me!
What a delightful dish!! I love the inclusion of radishes as well
Oh yum ive never seen purple potatoes before, i shall have to look out for them!
My favourite colour to wear, probably blue, but my actual favourite colour is emerald green. This potato salad is so beautiful, I wish i could find those pretty potatoes here in my neck of the woods.
*kisses* HH
Purple is such a lovely colour! and this salad sounds ( and looks) very tasty!
I’ve just purchased some purple sweet potatoes, looking forward to using them this weekend.YUM!
Just have to say the salad looks absolutely gorgeous Lorraine ! Another brilliant blog
Yum! i’ve just purchased some purple sweet potatoes. Can’t wait to use them
I love your use of a bamboo steamer for the potatoes.
Happy Friday, NQN!
SSG xxx
A friend of mine gave me a bag of these once, apparently she got them form the Pyrmont Markets (those ones that are over by like, 11am). The ones I had were shaped more likes kipflers though.
I have had a crush on purple potatoes for years, Lorraine. I think they taste better, don’t you? Well, even if they don’t they put the pasty white numbers to shame.
Great recipe full of so many happy things… but do you have to remind me you are at the end of summer as we go through the last dregs of the winter that will not end??? Arghh~!
Wow, I have never seen purple potatoes before. I like it! I don’t think I have a favourite colour to wear – I like to wear what is both a little different and comfortable at the same time (hence jersey is one of my favourite fabrics).
How lovely that your MIL met her friend on the ferry. I also think purple is a very passionate colour- I have friends who LOVE purple too. Seems to get that reaction from some people.
I like a mint green top, blouse, sweater and black pants or skirt.
~~~I’ve never seen purple potatoes like those….but I’ll be looking at the grocery store.
~~~~Your Blog Rocks. Love the delish photos wrapped with your lovely words.
I had my first purple potato over seas and I loved it. Eating purple food isn’t exactly something you get to do every day!
I seem to wear a lot of watermelon coloured clothes and gravitate towards them when I’m shopping. Other than that I’m mainly good old black and white with other colours thrown in.
Stunning! I just bought a variety of seed potato that is supposed to be the darkest purple, hopefully it’s the same variety as these. I guess I’ll find out in about 7 months =)
hey, for another variation, if you were to put a creamy dressing it would actually turn fushia…love taking it to potlucks!
Hahaha purple is such a hippie colour in my experience…any close friend that I’ve ever had that is a bit out of the ordinary in a hippy-aura-watching kinda way LOVES purple. I tend to dislike it personally, have never had purple clothes of any sort until recently I bought a top that the only colour left was a really vibrant purple, it was a nice purple at least, and since wearing it have had sooo many comments that the colour suits me…haha mind you I think that bright colours in general tend to suit me.
But my FAVOURITE colour of all time is green…that really retro rainforest green…mmmm love it
Love the healthy looks of this – heirloom varieties of potatoes and carrots, no doubt! Like the idea of the infused oil and raspberry vinegar. Oddly, a dear friend of mine grows beautiful purple beans – put them in a steamer and they turn ordinary green in cooking! Peculiar biochemistry!!
Oh, colours – my garden may be white, purple and pink, but I am most comfortable in boring beige and black!
Looks so pretty! It reminds me of Taro or Ube (Filipino root used commonly in sweets).
I’m a Melbourne girl, so of course my favourite colour to wear is black. The salad looks lovely- I’m going to try to find some purple potatoes to grow in our garden.
That salad is so pretty!! Unfortunately I over-purpled myself when I was younger and unfortunately can’t take too much of it anymore. I love to wear red
I love colourful food – I try to have at least 3 colours for lunch and 5 colours for dinner. Lingonberry vinegar also goes well in dressings.
Thanks a big bunch for the mention
I have not found the purple potatoes ever since I made those. I wish I find some.
Bright yellow and apple green teamed with my Melbourne uniform of black LOL
I grow purple carrots but never the potatoes! Must try it!
Super pretty! I have a slight purple obsession too, though I don’t really wear much of it anymore… well, not to work anyway!
I also get the purple potatoes form The Farmgate by Nashdale Fruit Co. at Marrickville markets.
I love purple and have seen the purple potatoes in the market…
Guess I should try this!
At first glance I thought you’d made a century egg salad! Wow purple potatoes, how interesting -I’m going to be on the lookout when I next to supermarket shopping!
That is such a lovely colourful salad! I love wearing red, in different shades!
I love purple and have been excited to find purple potatoes and carrots but I love your simplicity with which you have used them here – I tried roasting the purple potatoes once and they were disapointing so I think a potato salad might be a better use of them
I love purple too! I have never seen purple potatoes before.
Great salad! Not sure how I’ll go finding those vegetables here in Hanoi! I have to say I’m a black, white and denim wearer with splashes of red or green (beads and scarves). As a very small child though, I had a purple obsession and would often throw anything purple into Mum’s shopping trolley!
I love purple, absolutely mad on purple, the Blog, the email the twitter, all purple.
But when it comes to clothes, I think I wear a lot of black and red. They just seem to pop out at me in the store. In fact, I don’t think I own much purple at all.
The salad looks divine, I think it would be fun.
Oh gosh, I don’t know what my favourite clothing colour is right now! I used to wear a lot of green and brown, but I’m tryin got wear more colourful clothing these days
I don’t know if I’ve ever owned much in purple, actually!
I don’t know if I have one favorite color per se. I probably have a couple: pale blue because it’s sooo soothing to look at; red because it’s so Asian and confident looking; white because nothing beats the purity of a crisp, white shirt; and chocolate brown because it’s the color of one of my favorite foods.
my favourite colour is purple too! and the salad looks simple yet awesome..
Beautiful. You’ve just answered a query I had about this recipe. I attempted to make it for one of our Xmas salads & apparently I bought the wrong purple potatoes, coz they promptly lost their purpleness in the cooking process. It’s a really pretty dish isn’t it (that is if you get the right spuds), anyhow., thanks for clearing that up., I didn’t know what went wrong.
Beautiful, colourful and healthy salad! Thank you of thinking of me Lorraine! I didn’t know that purple potatoes existed!
what a gorgeous salad, packed with purple antioxidants!
I have a thing for khaki colours. but it really depends on season
This salad is so beautiful – what fresh, vibrant colours!
My favourite colours to wear are cobalt blue, green and peach – but not at the same time
Green is my absolute favourite colour, with purple as a close second. Fortunately, both colours have been very popular in Italy for a few seasons and I have a wardrobe full of these colours. I would eat purple potatoes happily.
Definately purple too…has always been my favourite colour
This salad looks tasty, I’d never even heard of purple potatoes or carrots before!
I picked up some purple potatoes at Borough Market before Xmas – I just loved the colour, and made them into purple chips, scatted with sea salt. I have seen pink ones as well, just havnt gotten to try them!
This salad looks gorgeous!
I am with Tuulikki, I just adore purple in all shades, can’t help myself, I’m so drawn to it my husband just rolls his eyes
Must find the potatoes now……
Wow Lorraine do these taste like normal potatoes or are they like purple sweet potatoes?
Purple isn’t my favourite colour but I was just thinking the other day that I have a lot of purple dresses. And I can’t get enough of purple nail polish in any shade – it seems to go with everything!
What a pretty salad and post to dedicate to your mother in law!
She’d love me then, my glasses lenses are actually purple. I have several kilos of purple potato in the pantry, but haven’t got around to cooking them yet, but now I know what to do. Thanks!
I love these – I remember giving them to my husband a few years ago… the look of horror on his face was wonderful
How lovely is this! I would never have thought of using raspberry vinegar in this recipe–how inspired. And now I am inspired!
Love the colours of this salad – really highlights the purple of the potatoes
i love this post! this salad looks gorgeous:) love the pretty color. thank you for sharing this and have a great weekend.
When I was healing from anxiety and depression, I gradually started wearing items of purple. People started commenting whenever I was wearing something purple, and I later found out it is the colour of healing, and positivity. I now gravatate towards purple …whereas I always wore black in the past. Nice recipe. Food almost looks like lollies!
I love purple potatoes!
I wear a lot of beige, black, white and blue. Could I sound any more boring. I think not.
Lovely plating Lorraine, very Peter Gilmore ( Quay) hehe
I wear a range of colours but when I wear something Purple, I feel empowered in a sense and very assertive. Well, it does stand out doesn’t it?
Haven’t come across purple potatoes as yet but will definitely buy next time I visit a local farmer’s market.
I’ve just started using purple sweet potatoes, they taste less sweet than the orange but I like them
My favourite colour to wear is sage green, perhaps that’s why I love salad so much!
What a beautiful salad!It sounds delicious!
Purple potatoes!! How gorgeous. They really make the salad pop. & the fruity dressing sounds divine! I love to wear a royal blue, but often go for greys (boring! haha). I do love white too.
Heidi xo
my favorite color to wear is black, but my favorite color in general is purple. that said, purple potatoes always taste better to me than your mundane, off-white ones. lovely tater salad.
Lorraine, What a fun salad! It looks like candy to me:) I like to wear neutral colors(boring, I know).
It has been years since I used purple potatoes, they really are gorgeous in colour.
I had the most amazing purple mashed sweet potatoes in the Cook Islands – I’ll never forget how amazing they were!
Ha ha , i know what u mean ,i think i can bond over pink, cupcakes and hearts with a some white and red , yeah i love that in anything from scarves, tees to pjs to socks , pity i can find them too often everywhere:-(
I have never had purple potato and never seen it here either.
Looks pretty too.
I like purple coz many a time it matches with pink:-)
I have never heard of pink potatoes before! Purple yes, but pink no. The salad looks very pretty. My favourite colours are red and blue. Although I wear all different colours, I love being colourful!
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