Oven Roasted Potatoes

So, this recipe is not entirely difficult or anything, but it IS one of my favorite ways to prepare potatoes. Actually, roasting is one of my favorite ways to prepare almost everything! I love the way that what you're roasting gets this wonderful golden brown color from being gently caramelized and the flavor that the roasting brings out. It's just wonderful, yummy goodness...
When it comes to roasted potatoes, I have gotten so discouraged at times because nearly every single recipe out there calls for you to roast them with rosemary. I'm fairly certain that I just haven't had a recipe in which it was prepared properly and this has led to my absolute dislike of the herb as a result. In my opinion, there are two things, despite some popular belief, that you can have too much of - garlic and rosemary. Don't get me wrong, garlic can be delicious. But you CAN have too much of a good thing! As for rosemary... Until someone can prepare a dish for me, using rosemary, and I am not overwhelmed by the extremely intense flavor of it, I will continue in my dislike of it. And if I feel the unbearable desire to eat something that tastes like pine needles, I'll just take a hike out to the pine tree in the yard and pick a few off! :-P Now, give me some yummy, fresh basil, and I could probably just put that in a salad and eat it all by itself!! Hee hee hee!
For roasted potatoes, my very favorite are the baby reds. However, you can probably use any potato you like and they will be wonderful and delicious. I recently found a bag which contained a combination of baby russet, red, and purple potatoes, so I used those with yummy results! I've seen purple potatoes, like in magazines and on television, but they had never been in any of the grocery stores I had access to, so I never tried them. So, of course, I just had to try them! And they taste like a potato. While being a pretty and interesting presentation, the flavor does not stand out as being anything really spectacular or addictive. But, they ARE potato goodness! :-) I think the important thing to remember is that you don't NEED to have the little baby potatoes to make this dish - you can use whatever potato you have on hand or find on sale at the grocery store - you just need to be sure to cut the potatoes into a somewhat uniform size so that they roast in the same amount of time.



2 lb. red new potatoes, quartered
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. dried thyme
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the potatoes in a bowl with the olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper; toss until the potatoes are well coated. Transfer the potatoes to a sheet pan and spread out into 1 layer. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until browned and crisp. Flip twice with a spatula during cooking in order to ensure even browning. Remove the potatoes from the oven and serve hot.