A Day at the Farmers’ Market and an Herbed Red Potato Recipe

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My daughter looks forward to shopping at the farmers’ market.  I think she’s excited because she never knows what will be there.  When one booth owner mentioned that he would have blackberries the next week, she talked about that to anyone who would listen and pestered me about it until we went back.  If my husband or I purchase a head of lettuce at the grocery store, even if she’s with us, she won’t eat it.  But she eats the lettuce she buys at the farmers’ market, just like she eats the lettuce she grows in her little garden.

I confess that I would do many things to get my daughter to eat her veggies – including eating vegetables I hate – but I, too, like gardening and going to farmers’ markets, so this one is no sacrifice. 

At the farmers’ market today, we picked up some fresh herbs, red potatoes, peaches, plums, and blackberries.  The fruit, we cut up into a simple fruit salad.  No honey or whipped cream; she’s picky on that score.  Over the next few days, she’ll eat the uncut fruit, standing out back with the juice dripping on her and her clothes.  The dogs will clean the patio for me.  No worries there.

But the potatoes need a bit more. Herbed Potatoes on the stovetop will only take a few minutes. The basil and thyme scents the kitchen and my fingers as I cut the leaves into strips.  The potatoes sizzle in the pan and soon they’re ready.

Herbed Potatoes

1 pound red potatoes
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
8-9 leaves fresh basil
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

Wash the red potatoes.  I leave mine unpeeled, but peeling them won’t affect the cook time.  Cut the potatoes into 1-inch pieces.  They’ll need to be roughly the same size so that they all finish cooking at the same time.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers.  Put the potatoes in, flat side down.  Let them cook for about eight minutes, without stirring, then turn them to another flat side.  Let them cook for another eight minutes or so without stirring.  Stir them once and cover the pan with a lid.  Turn the heat down to medium and let them simmer, covered, for about ten minutes.

Remove the thyme leaves from the stems and discard the stems (and by discard, I mean put them in the compost pile).  Cut the basil leaves and mix the two herbs together.

Remove the potatoes from the heat.  Mix the basil and thyme into the potatoes and serve.  Serves four as a side dish.