Roasted New Potato Salad with Meyer Lemon Rosemary Vinaigrette

So usually I come up with recipes after craving something and viewing 30 recipes online and in print before coming up with something that's a variation on a riff of a combination of elements of anything I saw that mildly interested me.

My small CSA share has included two pounds of new potatoes--red skinned and Yukon gold--every week for the past three weeks and the farmer has informed us shareholders that we should expect to see potatoes just about every week from now until the end of the share distributions in November. Except I only eat potatoes about once a month, if that. I have made a small number of dishes with them so far because I do like potatoes, I just can't eat that many. But since I can expect many, many more, I have started to panic a bit as to how to use them all. These potatoes are delicious and thin-skinned and tiny--each one is just an inch or two in diameter. They're adorable and tempting and they taste incredible. But what could I do with about four pounds of potatoes that I had left after giving some away to a friend?

Luckily this weekend some of my family is getting together at their traditional mountain escape. I feel like I should bring something savory in addition to the sweet cake I made. Hopefully something that uses 4 pounds of potatoes.

I didn't want anything too heavy or anything incorporating mayonnaise or eggs because of the several hour car ride without a cooler.

Also, I can't get enough of the Meyer lemons I bought this week. They're incredible in everything. I even ate one as if it were an orange. Actually, that's a lie: I ate the skin too.

Roasted New Potato Salad with Meyer Lemon Rosemary Vinaigrette

Roasted Potatoes

4 pounds mixed new potatoes, 1"-2" diameter, washed, larger ones halved or quartered according to your liking

3 tbsp unfiltered extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1 spring onion, finely chopped

3 stalks baby celery, finely diced

Toss the potatoes with olive oil and salt in a roasting pan until coated, place in a 400 degree oven, stirring every 15-20 minutes until potatoes have crispy, golden edges and are tender on the inside. Let cool to room temperature. Toss with onion and celery.

Meyer Lemon Rosemary Vinaigrette

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped

1/4 tsp coarse kosher salt

zest of 1/2 Meyer lemon

juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon

(if you're using regular lemons, add about 1/2 tsp sugar)

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp prepared dijon mustard

1/3 cup olive oil

Whisk together all ingredients in a large nonreactive bowl.

Pour roasted potato mixture into bowl with vinaigrette and toss to coat. Let stand at least 2 hours at room temperature or overnight in your refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

You'd think this would serve about 12 people, but you'd be wrong--it's much less, because people will actually eat this potato salad and ask for seconds.

Summer Slaw with Peanut Dressing

A food processor is worth its weight in dirty dishes for chopping great numbers of things up. Last week it was too hot to cook, and consuming anything warmer than room temperature seemed wholly unappetizing.

I've been feeling too delicate to go to the grocery store; I can't lift the weight of a basket with food in it and I am finding it difficult and painful to maneuver the cart with one hand. Whatever, I don't mind trying. The problem is other people in the grocery store. They bump into me and my shoulder and I black out from pain. I still stand after these encounters, but I'd rather avoid them. I've tried going to the store at "off" times of day, but there isn't really an "off" time at my nearest store. (Well located, developers, well located.) Sadly, whatever psychologist the architect and client consulted to maximize customer spending influenced them to choose a very, very awkward layout. So I consulted my refrigerator/pantry for dinner.

Summer Slaw

Slaw

1/2 medium head cabbage, shredded

2 medium carrots, shredded

3 radishes, shredded

1/4 large red onion, shredded

1 atauflo mango, shredded

1/2 serrano pepper, shredded (why not?)

1/4 cup peanuts, roughly chopped

Peanut Dressing

juice of 1 lime

2 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

3 drops toasted sesame oil

Whisk together all dressing ingredients and pour over the shredded mango and vegetables. Toss to distribute and let stand in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Top with chopped peanuts just before serving.

This would probably be even more delicious garnished with cilantro or Thai basil or toasted sesame seeds (or all three).

Those with peanut allergies can substitute cashew butter and cashews.

Serves 2 as an entree, 4 as a side

Victorious again

Saturday's take at Haymarket:

1 bunch parsley

2 tomatoes

1 mango

1 avocado

4 still-warm whole wheat pitas

1/2 pound kalamata olives

mad garlic, yo

$6.75, but I will admit that about 40% of the olives are a little soft. This will probably not deter me in the future.

I got home and made an adulteration of the jicama-watercress-avocado salad in the Veganomicon cookbook that we tried at my aunt's house a few weeks ago. In addition to forgetting about Google Book Search, I forgot the lime juice and sugar in the dressing, but I made a pretty decent-tasting approximation from memory.

Here's my altered version including some ingredient additions/omissions/substitutions:

Dressing

juice of 1 orange

2 tbsp. soy sauce

3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. cilantro, finely chopped

3 tbsp. canola oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

Salad

1 medium-sized jicama (Mine was $1.12 at $1.99/pound at Whole Foods. It looked medium. You do the math.), peeled and shredded

1/3 bunch watercress, snipped from your nearest windowsill

1/2 ripe avocado, sliced

1/2 mango, cubed

1/4 yellow onion (the red is prettier), sliced thinly

black sesame seeds, for garnish

cashews, toasted and chopped, for garnish

fresh cilantro and mint, chopped, for garnish

Whisk all dressing ingredients together and let sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes. Pour over shredded jicama in bowl, mix together, and let stand while preparing remaining ingredients. Place watercress on plate and top with jicama-dressing mixture. Arrange avocado, onion, and mango on top of jicama. Sprinkle sesame seeds, cashews, cilantro, and mint on top and serve.

Makes 2 servings.

This is really refreshing--perfect for a summer day, or at least a day that pretends to be summer, which I have to get used to in Boston.