Growing potatoes

These spuds aren’t duds

                       

New potatoesThere is a lot to like about new potatoes. They are new and fresh, they are potatoes, and they don’t have a skin that needs to be peeled. These young, crisp potatoes are great little nuggets for delivering fat and salt. Because no matter how much we say we like potatoes, what we really like is the fat and salt.

First step: Cook up a big bag to use throughout the week for these three recipes that use pre-cooked potatoes. Be sure to give new potatoes a rinse and a wee scrub if necessary. If you have access to organic potatoes it might be worth the additional expense, as the Environmental Working Group has recently found that potatoes have more pesticides by weight than any other produce tested.

Boil new potatoes in a pot of salted water and cover them for approximately 10 minutes, or until a fork can pierce one easily. Drain, put back onto hot stove (with heat turned off) to let water evaporate. Use immediately or divide into portions and store leftovers in the fridge to use throughout the week.

Here are 3 ways to maximize the goodness of those sweet little spuds.

Day 1: Eat hot. Tossed with butter, olive oil, crunchy sea salt and pepper. This makes a great side dish for dinner. Can be simply served with some herbs such as chives, dill or other fixings.

Day 2: Make a salad. Toss cooked, cooled and halved potatoes with sour cream or Greek yogurt, olive oil, some grainy mustard, diced red onion, fresh chopped dill and salt and pepper. Need more direction? Check here.Smashed potatoes

Day 3: Smash ‘em! Turn the oven on to 450 degrees. Grease a baking sheet with oil. Put cooked potatoes on sheet and press down with a mug until squashed but not completely broken apart. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until crispy. Serve with accompaniments if desired: sour cream or Greek yogurt, chopped chives, crumbled bacon. Or make a vegan avocado cream.

Growing tip: If your potatoes begin to sprout, throw them in some soil and make them reproduce! Or buy the more reliable ‘seed’ potatoes. Either are fun to grow! Get more info on growing here.

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