Baby Potatoes are the Best Potatoes

One of my favorite things about the spring and the summer is the emerging produce that is marketed as "baby". By this I mean all of the young fruits and vegetable on the shelves that are freshly harvested before reaching maturation. These vegetables tend to be sweeter, more tender, and overall more delicious without having to spend nearly as much time cooking them.

I very much enjoy working with the young babies of the produce aisle not just because they win me over with their immense cuteness, but because I think they taste better and shine in a dish without much help whatsoever. Baby vegetables need very little aid tasting delicious and are the perfect addition to salads.

Right now the market has an abundance of these super adorable vegetables because we're still transitioning from spring to summer. It's a special time of the year where two seasons can be represented on one plate. This includes baby favas, baby summer squash, green garlic (which is just young regular garlic), and most importantly, "new potatoes".

Just to be clear, I'm not much of a fan of potatoes. If I'm craving starch in my diet, it's going to be in the form of pasta, always. However, new potatoes are particularly unique for their sweet and creamy qualities. Unlike their adult counterpart, they don't need as much prepping and ingredients to make them shine in a dish. You can recognize a new potato by their tiny size, of course, and their easily distinguishable thin, flaky skin. They still need to be cooked, but just enough to be tender and delicious and dressed with some vinaigrette.

The following salad I made is just that. No fuss and simple. The spring ramps are still around and the mild onion flavor is a wonderful complement to the blank canvas the potatoes provide. Especially when I've been on this "charring" kick with all of my vegetables.

---

New Potato | Ramp | Radish Salad

2 lbs new potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 lb ramps, stems cleaned then washed

1 bunch breakfast radishes, thinly sliced lengthwise

3 cherry bomb peppers, seeds removed and cut thinly

2 meyer lemons, juiced and zested

1 cup olive oil

1/4 cup salt plus 1 tbsp

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 tbsp preserved lemon

1 tbsp aleppo pepper

2 handfuls watercress

1/4 cup oil cured olives

Begin by bringing a large pot to a boil. Add the ¼ cup salt as well.

While waiting for the water to boil, turn the oven on the highest temperature—past 500 to broil and char the ramps. Place the dry ramps on a baking tray and place under the broiler for 3 minutes at a time. Continuously check on them to ensure they don’t burn. Rotate and mix around so everything evenly chars. Once blackened on the outer layer, set aside to cool.

Before dropping the potatoes in boiling water, make the dressing with the cooled ramps. Chop the ramps finely and add to a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, preserved lemon, olive oil, sugar and 1 tbsp of salt and mix well. Set aside.

Boil the potatoes for 5-7 minutes, just until fork tender—you do not want to overcook them. Drain well and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the olives, peppers, radishes, and Aleppo pepper as well as most of the dressing. Stir well, not worrying about crushing or smashing some of the potatoes—it makes the dressing more creamy and adds texture. Once fully incorporated, add the watercress and cilantro, and more dressing if necessary. Gently mix and serve!

#seasons #oliveoil #Homemade #cooking #Ramps #Seasonal #summer #vegetarian #salad #veggies #produce #potatoes #radishes #olives #May