Lemon Herb Potato Salad

The elk is in the chest freezer and the chili is all I want to eat for the next two months. I make a pot on Sunday, it lasts the week, I make another pot. This is October. This is what October is for.

The manuscript is getting its final push now. Eight chapters, and I've delivered four to Sarah Olenick in full. The remaining four — fall, harvest, first snow, and the inventory chapter I've been saving for the end — have to be done by November 15th. I'm writing every morning from five until eight, before chores, in the half-dark with the kitchen light and whatever coffee I managed to make without waking Patrick. The material is coming. Some mornings it's coming fast enough that I have to trust the typing and sort it out later.

The October chapter is about hunting, preservation, and the way October is simultaneously the most alive month and the month most aware of its own ending. I've been writing about the bull elk Tuesday morning — the cold, the waiting, the moment of decision, the work that followed. I want to write about it without apology and without performance, just as something I do and why it matters. Sarah read a draft and said "this is the best writing in the book." I told her I hoped that wasn't true since there were four more chapters to go. She said "you know what I mean."

Tom came over for dinner Saturday — chicken thighs braised in the canned tomatoes from August, over polenta, with some of the garden's last herbs. He looked well. He's been getting out more since the book tour started, which does something good to a person who tends toward solitude. We talked about the third book, which is still more concept than outline. He said he wants to write about patience. I said patience is what the second book was about. He said "different kind."

Mariposa let me pick all four feet without dancing this week. Ten months of patient work. She stood quietly with her eyes half-closed and let me do the job. Some victories come on your timeline and some come on theirs, and the ones that come on theirs are always better.

The chicken and polenta were the main event that Saturday, but what I keep thinking about is the herbs — the last real handful of the year, pulled from the garden before the cold finishes what it’s started. I’ve made this potato salad a dozen times since August, but this late in the season it lands differently, like you’re getting away with something. If Tom noticed how good it was alongside everything else on the table, he was polite enough not to say so — which is its own kind of compliment.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs baby Yukon Gold potatoes, halved
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chives, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for boiling
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Boil the potatoes. Place halved potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold, generously salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook 15—18 minutes until potatoes are just tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and spread on a sheet pan to cool for 5 minutes.
Make the dressing. While potatoes cool, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, Dijon mustard, and minced garlic in a large bowl until emulsified. Season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and the black pepper.
Dress while warm. Add the still-warm potatoes to the bowl and toss to coat thoroughly. Warm potatoes absorb the dressing much better than cold — don’t skip this step.
Add the herbs. Fold in the parsley, chives, and dill. Taste and adjust salt and lemon as needed. The salad should be bright and herbaceous, not flat.
Rest and serve. Let the salad sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to settle. Serve warm or at room temperature — it holds well for several hours.

Nutrition (per serving)

Lemon Herb Potato Salad — The Garden’s Last Herbs, Put to Good Use