Ingredient Spotlight: New Potatoes

Spring’s freshly dug potatoes are sweeter and creamier than their fall and winter cousins — perfect for potato salad season! Read on for our best tips for working with new potatoes, plus some creative recipes to make them shine.

 

Look for: Avoid buying new potatoes with cracks, wrinkling or blemishes. Store them in a cool, dry place, and use within 2 or 3 days of purchase (they don’t keep well).

 

Prep tips: Scrub the potatoes well with a stiff brush under cold running water to remove dirt, taking care not to scrape off thin skins. Green areas on potatoes are known to be mildly toxic, so trim them off before cooking. You generally don’t need to peel new potatoes. Here’s your toolkit:

 

• Tater Mate Potato Brush, to clean potatoes
• de Buyer Kobra Adjustable Slicer, for thinly slicing
• All-Clad d5 Stainless-Steel 3-Qt. Steamer Set, for steaming potatoes
• Potato Grilling Rack, to grill potatoes and create crispy skins

 

Uses: New potatoes keep their shape well, so they’re ideal for roasting, simmering in stews and soups, and boiling or steaming for potato salads.

 

Classic Salade Niçoise Here’s our take on the classic salad of Nice, France, including haricots verts—slender, young green beans—along with boiled potatoes, hard-cooked eggs, tuna and lettuce.

Mustard-Crusted Salmon with Red Potatoes Spicy mustard rubbed onto fish imparts a quick infusion of flavor. This is the ultimate one-pot meal for a busy night — just add a salad of peppery arugula and whisk a dollop of mustard into the vinaigrette to bring it all together.

New Potatoes with Crème Fraîche Crème fraîche adds a pleasing tang to this easy potato dish, which pairs well with roasted fish, chicken, beef or lamb.

Potato Gratin with Leeks and Thyme Chicken broth stands in for heavy cream in this lighter version of a potato gratin, flavored with sweet melted leeks.

Spice-Scented Roast Chicken and Vegetables Slender potatoes and asparagus make smart partners for spice-rubbed roasted chicken pieces. The entire meal cooks together — no need for sides!

Salmon, Potato & Asparagus Salad This is one of the most heart-healthy salads you can eat. Perfect for a light supper or a lunch, it can be prepared quickly just before serving, or the salmon, potatoes and asparagus can be prepared up to a day ahead, then dressed just before serving.

Whole Potatoes with Spring Herbs Garnished with chopped spring herbs, these potatoes are tender and creamy, perfect as a simple side dish.

Roast Pork Loin with New Potatoes To keep prep simple, potatoes and leeks roast in the same pan with a boneless pork loin so they absorb the flavorful juices from the meat. Round out the meal with a green vegetable, such as roasted broccoli or sautéed spinach.