Basic Boiled Potatoes

George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis on Monday, May 25th, and the world caught fire.

I watched the video — the full video — on Tuesday morning. I did not want to watch it. I watched it because I felt I owed it to him to witness what had been done. I sat with my phone on the kitchen table afterward for a long time without moving. Outside the window the neighborhood was ordinary. Sunlight. A bird in the oak tree. The world going about itself as if something enormous had not just happened.

Mama came downstairs and found me at the table. She looked at my face and sat down and took my hands. She did not say anything for a moment. Then she said, "Are you all right?" I said no. She said, "Good. You should not be all right right now." I think that was the most honest thing she has ever said to me.

Daddy came home from work early. He sat in the living room and was quiet in the way he is quiet when history is arriving and he is trying to figure out where he stands in relation to it. Jamal called from Shreveport, where he had been visiting friends, and his voice had a quality I had never heard from him: a tight, barely-managed anger that he was working very hard to control. He said, "This has to stop." I said I knew. He said, "We have to make it stop." I said yes. We talked for an hour. We did not arrive anywhere except at the fact that we loved each other and we were both furious and both scared and both intending to be present in whatever came next.

I made dinner in the evening because the body still needs to eat even when the mind is in a different register. Red beans, simple, the food of our family going back to before I can trace. I ate in silence with my parents. Sometimes food is not comfort. Sometimes it is just sustenance, offered in the presence of grief.

The red beans I made that night were as plain as I could make them — just the beans, just the pot, just enough. I have thought since then about why I reached for something so stripped down, and I think it was because anything elaborate would have felt obscene. This recipe for Basic Boiled Potatoes carries that same spirit: simple, honest, requiring almost nothing of you, asking only that you show up and let the heat do its work. On nights when the world has taken too much, sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is feed yourself something plain and true.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 pounds small yellow or red potatoes, scrubbed
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Prepare the potatoes. Scrub the potatoes under cold water. Leave small potatoes whole; halve any that are larger than 1 1/2 inches across. No need to peel them.
Boil the water. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by at least one inch. Add a generous pinch of salt — the water should taste lightly seasoned. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Cook until tender. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a steady simmer. Cook for 15–20 minutes, until a fork slides easily into the center of the largest potato with no resistance.
Drain and season. Drain the potatoes in a colander and let them sit for one minute to steam dry. Return them to the warm pot. Add butter if using, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Toss gently to coat.
Serve. Transfer to a bowl or plate. Scatter parsley over the top if you like. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Basic Boiled Potatoes — When the Body Still Needs to Eat