roasted potato salad with fennel, olives, and tomatoes

This recipe is a cross between two potato salad recipes: one in Annie Somerville’s Everyday Greens, and one in the August 2002 issue of Cook’s Illustrated. In last summer’s newsletter I shared a similar roasted potato salad recipe that includes capers and green beans. If you like this one, you might want to try that one, too! (You’ll find it in my 2008 Farmers’ Market Cookbook if you don’t still have that email newsletter.) Use Alaskan Butterball potatoes if you can—they brown up so nicely when roasted.
I love fennel, but the key to eating it raw is slicing it paper-thin. It’s quite a tough vegetable when raw, so if the slices aren’t thin, you really get a jaw workout. I use a mandolin—an adjustable slicer that allows you to cut really thin slices—but if you’re careful to use a very sharp knife and take your time, you can get thin enough slices by hand.
I like a heavy proportion of vegetables to my potatoes, but if you like, just cut back on the fennel and tomatoes or roast more potatoes! I love to make a meal of this by serving it with grilled asparagus. Yum!

2 pounds garlic-roasted potatoes (recipe follows)
garlicky red wine mustard vinaigrette (recipe follows)
½ medium red onion, minced (about ½ cup)
2 large or 3 medium fennel bulbs
¼ cup chopped fennel fronds (from the fine, wispy leaves, not the coarse stems)
red wine vinegar
3-4 tomatoes, diced a little smaller than the potatoes
¼ to ½ cup kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
2-4 tablespoons parsley (OK to omit if you don’t have it)

1. Preheat your oven and make the vinaigrette.
2. Get the garlic-roasted potatoes in the oven.
3. Cut the fennel in half, core it, and slice it very thinly crosswise. Toss slices with a tablespoon of red wine vinegar to keep them from browning.
4. Bring a small pot of water to boil. Place the onions in a small bowl and pour a little boiling water over them, just enough to cover. Let the onions soak for 30 seconds, drain them, and toss them in with the fennel.
5. When the potatoes are crisp and golden-brown on the outside and tender in the center, scoop them (still hot) into the bowl with the fennel and onions. Toss them together; this will soften the fennel slightly. After a minute, add several large spoonfuls of vinaigrette and toss again. Add the tomatoes, olives, and parsley and toss again. Adjust the seasoning with more vinaigrette, salt, pepper, and/or a splash of vinegar, if needed.

garlicky red wine mustard vinaigrette
This might make more dressing than you need, but it keeps very well in the refrigerator, and you can use it on green salads, broccoli, and other vegetables.

6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 medium cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1 tablespoon honey
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½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Put first 5 ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Slowly pour in oil to make a creamy emulsion. Taste and season with more salt and/or honey.

garlic-roasted potatoes
These potatoes are great with all kinds of things, in addition to being a component of the previous recipe. The garlic-infused oil really makes a difference in the taste! Use these instead of mashed potatoes or rice with any dish. This is an especially fantastic recipe if you use Alaskan Butterball potatoes. Make an effort to buy them, if you can, because they make the very brownest, most caramelized potatoes of any I’ve ever eaten, I think because they have a slightly higher sugar content.

2 pounds Butterball potatoes (or other yellow, waxy potato)
garlic oil (recipe in Step 1.)
sea salt or kosher salt

1. Make garlic oil: Mash or mince 3 or 4 garlic cloves and cover with ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil. Let steep for 30 minutes if you have time. Strain out the garlic and store the oil in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the potatoes into small bite-sized pieces. Toss them in a bowl with a few spoonfuls of garlic oil, then sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt. Toss again.
3. Coat a large baking dish or sheet pan with cooking spray or oil and transfer the potatoes onto it. Roast the potatoes until tender and browned, 35 to 40 minutes.