Today, I had a lovely, relaxing day. I accidentally stumbled into the Goleta farmer’s market this morning, on our last day here on this visit. In addition to some stellar stone fruits and strawberries, I picked up a couple pounds of fingerling potatoes, dreaming of a bright, flavorful Turkish style potato salad featuring olive oil, lemon juice and fresh parsley.
Before I started my cooking spree, however, I took another long walk through the butterfly sanctuary up the road, out to a breezy bluff overlooking a clear ocean with oodles of seaweed traipsing through the waves. It was idyllic.
Then, I came back, polished up the mosaic one last time and got cracking in the kitchen. One coconut-strawberry tart and one delicious potato salad later, I sit here and write before we begin the 4 hour journey home.
Enjoy this fresh, bright, tasty salad. It tastes like summer.
fingerling potato salad, turkish style
- 2-3 lbs fingerling potatoes
- 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 cup parsley, chopped fine
- 1 large tomato, seeds removed and chopped
- Juice of one lemon
- 4 TBS olive oil
- 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp herbes de provence
- 1 tsp salt
- fresh black pepper
- cayenne pepper
Boil the potatoes whole, until al dente, then drain and let cool. Saute the onions and garlic in a pan with a little oil to soften. When the potatoes are cool to the touch, slice in quarters or bite sized pieces. Add the parsley, tomato, garlic, onion to the potatoes in a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, herbes de provence, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper and add to the potatoes. Season to taste with more salt and fresh black pepper. Let sit for a while for the flavors to mingle. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
KIRSTIN GREEN 