New Potatoes

Our friends Greg and Annie had us over for dinner recently and they served the most amazing appetizer—warm new potatoes. They had been boiled, cut in half, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned liberally with salt and pepper. We all sat there, talking, laughing and eating those delightful potatoes. I never would have thought of serving them as an appetizer, but it was fantastic.

Potatoes (especially new potatoes) are delicious. It's a shame that they've gotten a bad reputation, especially when it's not their fault. A lot of people mistakenly lump potatoes in with white foods like sugar and refined flour. But that doesn't make a whole lot of sense because unlike those things, potatoes contain vitamins, minerals, fiber and even protein. Sometimes the problem is the way we serve them: We eat too many French fries, load baked potatoes with sour cream, and eat mashed potatoes solely to act as a butter or gravy delivery system. The beauty of new potatoes is that they don't need anything but boiling water to make them shine.

I bought some new potatoes at the market this afternoon and made a version of Scandinavian potato salad, which usually calls for mayonnaise, sour cream or buttermilk.

To make the potato salad, place about ten scrubbed new potatoes in a pot and fill it with cold water, season it generously with salt, bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Drain them and set aside. Meanwhile, combine about one-half cup plain yogurt with one tablespoon grainy mustard (or spicy mustard or Dijon), one to two tablespoons of chopped fresh dill, and salt and black pepper to taste. Stir to combine and set aside. Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters depending on their size and your preference, add about one-fourth cup of finely diced red onion and around one-fourth cup of the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasonings and serve.

I served the potato salad with broccoli and seared wild salmon and I was really happy with the results.