Balsamic Purple Potatoes

I drove to my mother's house in Orem on Wednesday because I do that on Wednesdays, and Wednesday is a day I have organized around my mother. The week was a spring week, the kind where the light through the kitchen window arrives at a particular angle and the freezer hums in a different register depending on the temperature in the garage. I made notes in my prep notebook on Sunday afternoon, the way I always do: meal name, ingredient list, cost per serving, prep time, freezer instructions. Twenty-eight bags. Two hours and eleven minutes. A little slow this week, by my standards, but Brandon was helping and the conversation was good, and I have learned, slowly and against my own grain, that the conversation is sometimes the point and the time is sometimes a courtesy I extend to my husband for being willing to chop onions on a Sunday afternoon.

The children are doing what they do, which is the central report of every week of my adult life. Ethan is 20, in Manila on his mission, and his last email mentioned a chicken adobo so good he is going to make me make it when he comes home. Olivia is 18, at BYU studying elementary education — the path she chose at age seven and has not deviated from once. Mason is 16, finishing high school, with calluses on his hands and a plan that does not yet have words. Lily is 14, in high school, asking the kind of questions in Sunday School that make the teachers uncomfortable, which I find difficult and also, secretly, admirable. Noah is 11, the comedian, the performer — the kid who does an impression of my disappointed face in front of company, and gets away with it. That is the family report. I do not have a system for these reports. I just listen and remember and call back when I said I would call back, which is most of the time and not all of the time, and the difference between most and all is the territory of motherhood.

The recipe of the week was sheet-pan kielbasa, which I have made some specific number of times in my life and have refined to a system that I now hand to other people in printed form. The version I made this week fed eight, cost under fifteen dollars, and required twenty-six minutes of active prep, which is within my requirements and not a coincidence. The freezer in the garage is the freezer of record. The freezer in the pantry is the freezer of convenience. The distinction matters. I have stopped explaining the freezer-meal philosophy to people who already follow my work, and I have stopped apologizing for it to people who do not. The philosophy is simple: tomorrow is coming whether you are ready or not. You can either be ready or not. I pick ready.

I prayed on Thursday morning for the first time in two weeks, which the therapist would call worth noting. I noted it. I am still a Latter-day Saint. I am also a woman who has sat in front of a casket the size of a bread box. I do not see those two things as contradictions, but I do not pretend they sit easily together either. The bench in the chapel where I sit on Sunday is the same bench. The woman is not. The faith makes room for the woman. That is what I have learned to ask of it.

Dinner is in the freezer. Tomorrow is coming. I am ready.

The kielbasa gets all the credit, but honestly the side dish is what makes the bag worth pulling from the freezer on a Wednesday night when I’ve just come home from my mother’s house and have nothing left. Balsamic purple potatoes are what I reach for — they roast on the same pan, they reheat without complaint, and the color alone is enough to make a plate feel like something you intended. Brandon chopped them on Sunday. That counts.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs purple potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (optional, for serving)

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a large rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper or foil.
Prep potatoes. Wash and dry purple potatoes. Halve small ones and quarter any larger ones so pieces are roughly uniform — about 1 to 1-1/2 inches.
Toss with marinade. In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Add potatoes and toss until evenly coated.
Arrange on pan. Spread potatoes in a single layer on the prepared sheet pan, cut side down where possible. Do not crowd the pan or they will steam instead of roast.
Roast. Roast for 20–25 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until potatoes are fork-tender and edges are caramelized and slightly crisp.
Serve or freeze. Serve immediately with fresh parsley if desired. To freeze, cool completely and transfer to a zip-top freezer bag. Reheat from frozen at 375°F for 15–20 minutes or microwave until heated through.

Nutrition (per serving)

Balsamic Purple Potatoes — The Side Dish That Goes in the Freezer Bag Without Arguing