Purple Ravens cooking: This food is for the birds

 

Serving purple cauliflower for Purple Friday last week was such a hit that I decided this week we’d take it to a new level.

And ever since I found an immersion blender under the Christmas tree this year—my husband does, indeed, read my blog— I have been wanting to make soup. So I found a purple cauliflower soup recipe online and headed to the store.

I couldn’t find any purple cauliflower.

So I bought ordinary cauliflower and some purple cabbage. And while I was in the produce section, I snagged a few purple potatoes. 

Then tonight I cooked a mostly purple meal.

Purple cauliflower soup:

The cauliflower soup recipe sounded a bit bland. So I sautéed some rosemary with the onions and then added some freshly grated parmesan at the end. When I started sautéing the cauliflower, I added just one wedge of the purple cabbage, chopped up so it wouldn’t break my new blender.

As I blended it with my marvelous new blender, the soup turned lavender, but not a deep purple.

If I were a serious Ravens fan, I would probably use the whole cabbage.

The verdict:

I thought it was quite good–light, flavorful, and smooth–but I was alone. Daniel wouldn’t try it, Leo tasted it and didn’t like it, and John called it “interesting, but not enthralling.” You can guess what will be in my lunchbox this week.

Then there were the purple potatoes:

I cut up the potatoes (and was thrilled to discover they were also purple inside). I roasted them at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes with some red onion, olive oil, minced onion, and ground pepper. Oh, and I added some parmesan cheese.

The verdict:

John and I both enjoyed the potatoes. Leo doesn’t like potatoes of any color (unless they are French fried and come with a toy) and Daniel, who will occasionally eat potatoes, was turned off by the color.

And, of course, the color was the whole point of the dish.

So did everyone starve?

Well, I also steamed some shrimp and reheated some leftover Chinese food, so no one went hungry. And, as an afterthought, I had bought a bottle of grape juice, which was the hit of the meal.

Lesson learned: Forget the purple dinner. All you need is a $3 bottle of grape juice.

Go Ravens! What will you be eating during Sunday’s game?

Catholic Review

The Catholic Review is the official publication of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.