Russian fingerling potatoes with parsley
One of the regional leaders of The Permanente Medical Group is an avid fisherman, a local foodie, and has excoriated me in the past for not mentioning in a prior recipe that you should only purchase wild salmon.
He also recently admitted that he is addicted to Cheetos. And, I imagine, he's not the only one. What is it about crunchy, salty snacks? I went to my local deli to investigate.
A 2-ounce bag of potato chips costs $1.69. The nutritional content label seductively proclaims there are only 9 grams of fat and 1 gram of saturated fat. In small print, it mentions that this is the amount of fat per serving. Voilà! There are two servings in the 2-ounce bag. Do you think anyone ever ate half the bag one day and the other the next?
The cost for a pound of potato chips purchased in these packages is $13.62 (a pound bag at the grocery store is about $5.50). For this $13.62 you get 144 grams of fat and 16 grams of saturated fat.
Fast forward to Friday when you can shop at our hospital's farmers' market. From Happy Boy Farm you can buy Russian fingerling potatoes, organically grown, for $2 a pound.
This recipe may not be the snack of choice for my regional friend at 4:30 p.m. on a workday, but you never know. Maybe he'll bring some roasted rosemary potato chunks to work someday.
Ingredients
- 1 pound of Russian fingerling (or another kind) potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces, unpeeled
- 1/4 bunch parsley, chopped coarsely
- 1 tablespoon Smart Balance or butter
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Water
Directions
- Cover the potatoes with water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Drain them well in a colander and return them to the pan. Shake the pan gently over low heat to dry the potatoes a bit.
- Toss them with the butter or butter substitute and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- For a crispy variation, boil the potatoes for five minutes, drain them, then finish cooking them at 400 degrees in the oven. This may be the version that's more likely to come to work in a snack bag.