Garlicky Roasted Potato Salad with Wilted Kale and Tahini Dressing, Bean Salad and Peach, Apricot and Plum Browned Butter Bliss
It was a three hour lunch today; the kind that ended as the five o’clock news started. It wasn’t a power lunch, or a liquid lunch on the patio, but a lingering lunch in our living room with friends we haven’t seen all summer. The upside of being self-employed is that you can often push stuff to the back of your plate when an opportunity arises to slack off all afternoon. The downside of being self-employed is that you can often push stuff to the back of your plate when an opportunity arises to slack off all afternoon.
I found us another keeper: roasted potato salad with kale and tahini dressing. It doesn’t sound overly exciting, but trust me, it is. I stumbled upon it while searching for a roasted kale recipe I heard of that supposedly makes kale taste just like chips – anyone want to become my new best friend by sending it to me? because if I can make my greens taste like chips, I’m golden. And I may just package them up and make a million bucks on the side.
For approximately half my life I’ve roasted potatoes for potato salad – the very best kind is made with bacon, and after you cook and crumble the bacon (in the oven, on a baking sheet, at around 400F), you roll chunks of potato around in the bacon drippings and roast them too. Guess what salty meat kale goes especially well with? Bacon.
The other brilliant part of this recipe is the Parmesan cheese – you sprinkle it over the roasting potatoes toward the end of their cooking time, so that it melts and turns golden and crunchy. This too I’ve done, with oven fries, but never with a potato salad. You then thinly slice kale (remove the ribs – they can be too tough) and toss it with the hot potatoes, and it’s enough to wilt the kale. Chard, I imagine, would work very well too. The dressing is just tahini, lemon juice, water and garlic, whirled to a paste. If you like tahini, you’re going to love this. For me, this would make a happy lunch or dinner, just all on its own.
Garlicky Roasted Potato Salad with Wilted Kale and Tahini Dressing
Adapted from Gourmet, December 2008. If you like, par-boil the potatoes until about halfway cooked to give them a head start.
4-6 slices bacon (optional)
2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into big bite-sized pieces
canola or olive oil
4 garlic cloves (3 thinly sliced)
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 cup tahini
2 Tbsp. water
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2-3/4 lb. kale, stems and center ribs discarded and leaves very thinly sliced crosswisePreheat oven to 400°F.
If you’re using bacon, lay the strips on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until crispy; remove the bacon and set aside, leaving all or some of the drippings on the pan.
Spread the potatoes out on a single layer on the pan, and shake it around to coat them, adding a drizzle of oil too if you think it needs it. (If you didn’t use bacon, just drizzle the potatoes liberally with oil and toss them about to coat.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper, bump up the oven temp to 450°F and roast for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Stir in the sliced garlic and cook for 10 minutes more. Sprinkle with cheese and roast until cheese is melted and golden in spots, about 5 more minutes.
Meanwhile, purée tahini, water, lemon juice, remaining garlic clove and salt in a blender until smooth. Add a bit of water if the sauce is too thick.
Toss kale with hot potatoes and any garlic and oil remaining in pan, then toss with tahini sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Serves about 6.
We made lunch mostly of (fairly interesting) leftover salads – this, Ichiban salad (I made a fresh batch with leftover ingredients), and the bean salad still sitting in the fridge from W’s party – fortunately bean salad actually improves with time in the fridge. My favourite bean salad is made with a can of kidney beans, a can of chick peas, a can of mixed beans (you get a prettier variety this way), and some yellow and green wax beans, blanched for just a few minutes. Also some chopped red pepper and purple or green onion. (Hey, this is a salad – you don’t really need measurements, do you?) For the dressing, equal parts sugar and white vinegar, simmered on the stovetop until the sugar dissolves and it turns clear, at which point I stir in a squirt of mustard and shake of celery seed. Pour it over the bowl of beans while still warm, and shove it in the fridge overnight for it to do its thing. This is the way my grandma and great aunts made it, and I love it. Simple, sweet, vinegary marinated beans; very lowbrow compared to the million or so more sophisticated takes on a bean salad, but I’d always choose this one. It inspires me to stand at the fridge late at night and scoop ice-cold sweet beans into my mouth by the soupspoonful.
Now, this was a somewhat impromptu lunch. I figured we’d have those chocolate sandwich cookies from IKEA and fruit for dessert, until I remembered how dead easy it is to bake a browned butter bliss, and how wonderful it makes your house smell. When you go over to your friend’s house for lunch, it’s the best to be slammed in the face with the aroma of fresh baking the minute you walk in the door.
I used two peaches, two apricots, and a few small yellow plums. All unpeeled; just cut into thick wedges over the buttered pie plate and the thick batter spread overtop. Bliss. Simple bliss.
Browned Butter Bliss
(by way of Ligita’s Quick Apple Cake in Classic Home Desserts)
8 or so plums, thickly sliced, or 5 apricots, or 3 peaches, or any combination of these or other fruits
3/4 cup + 3 Tbsp. sugar (or to taste, according to the sweetness of the fruit)
pinch cinnamon (or to taste – optional)
1/2 cup butter
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flourPreheat the oven to 350°F and butter a pie plate.
Toss your fruit in the pie plate with about 2 Tbsp. sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon, if you like. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and keep cooking it, swirling the pan occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until it turns golden. Pour into a medium mixing bowl.
Stir the 3/4 cup of sugar into the butter, then the eggs, then the flour. Pour over the fruit and sprinkle with the last tablespoon of sugar.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden and crusty, and the juices ooze from around the edges. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or thick vanilla yogurt.
Serves 8.
One Year Ago: Chili over Mac & Cheese
August 06 2009 08:55 pm | dessert and salads
thepinkpeppercorn on 06 Aug 2009 at 10:26 pm #
I am speechless! Because I have so much to say of course!
Carolyn on 07 Aug 2009 at 1:23 am #
HI Julie — this is the recipe I use for kale chips…
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Kale-Chips/Detail.aspx
Grace on 07 Aug 2009 at 2:23 am #
*slightly off topic*
Julie – damn about the non-working URL!! Well, because it would take up *way* too much real estate to post the full URLs, I tweeted the shrunk URLs to you – just keep your eyes peeled for my handle – @graceawong …
Hope this attempt works!!
*we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming*
Kelly on 07 Aug 2009 at 4:19 am #
I found the recipe!!!
Just follow this link to 28 Cooks:
http://28cooks.blogspot.com/2008/02/kale-chips-ive-been-seeing-recipes-for.html
If you package these for millions, I would like a cut!! LOL
I have a thing for chips, so I will definitely try these this weekend. I will let you know how they turn out.
jen on 07 Aug 2009 at 4:29 am #
i have been meaning to make this recipe for months. thanks for the reminder!
Kale Chips
1 bunch of kale
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp salt
* Preheat oven to 200
* Wash kale thoroughly and let dry
* Tear kale away from stem. Each kale leaf should be torn into about 6 or eight pieces
* Place kale, salt, olive oil and lemon into a bowl and mix together with your hands, gently massaging the kale with the oil, lemon and salt
* Lay kale out on a cookie sheet or pizza pan
* Place in over and set timer for 30 minutes
* At 30 minutes, remove from oven and gently unstick kale from pan if it has stuck and replace for another 10-15 minutes until kale is dry and crispy
* Allow to cool. Can store in fridge for up to a week
Kate on 07 Aug 2009 at 5:29 am #
Awesome potato salad, never would have put that together – but can’t wait to try it. We love kale, and usually make a hot kale slaw, but the chips will be the duty of the next bunch that arrives in our kitchen!
Sam@BingeNYC on 07 Aug 2009 at 5:47 am #
Three hour lunches…so lovely. And here is yet another kale chips recipe, via the kitchn:
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/ingredients-vegetables/unmeat-how-to-eat-a-bunch-of-kale-in-one-sitting-078886
Barb on 07 Aug 2009 at 6:12 am #
I’ll try this with chard this weekend. oooo exciting! (I have no life) Your salad looks awesome!
JulieVR on 07 Aug 2009 at 6:13 am #
Ha! You guys are obviously better at Googling than I am! Or perhaps I was just derailed by this potato salad and abruptly ended my search…
Thanks everyone!!
Cheryl on 07 Aug 2009 at 6:20 am #
Again, we think alike. I had kale and bacon last night too, but with pyrohy and onions.
Rachel on 07 Aug 2009 at 6:43 am #
That potato salad looks amazing, even at 8:43 AM.
I don’t know if you need another link, as I imagine they all give the same formula, but here’s where I first read about kale chips:
http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2009/02/tuscan_kale_chips
June on 07 Aug 2009 at 7:58 am #
Wow, that potato salad looks amazing. Would it work with another kind of dressing? We’re not tahini fans.
JulieVR on 07 Aug 2009 at 8:08 am #
OK, it seems I am the very last to hear about this. And I didn’t even find it online or in a magazine – I heard about it from a friend! How could I not have stumbled upon one of these??
June – oh yes, you could dress this with anything you like!
Charmian Christie on 07 Aug 2009 at 8:53 am #
I love Yukon Gold potatoes and the idea of roasting them for a salad.
As for the dessert. Drooling on the keyboard…
Erica B. on 07 Aug 2009 at 9:00 am #
I loooove the salad! I’ve been on a hunt for a good non-mayo based potato salad (like your search for the perfect chocolate birthday cake). Hummus and tzatziki are regulars in this house so I think I’ll try the salad two ways – the tahini dressing and a tzatziki version(probably thinned out a bit). Love the new browned butter bliss – and I’d try it too but my capris aren’t fitting like they used to
Erica B. on 07 Aug 2009 at 9:03 am #
PS: speaking of getting more greens – Planet Organic has a beeeautiful Kale salad called Hail to the Kale…Thankfully the recipe is in their cookbook or I’d go broke buying it from their deli. If you’d like the paraphrased recipe email me
Kristilyn on 07 Aug 2009 at 9:40 am #
That peach pie looks amazing! I must try that during our next family gathering. Can you do the same with strawberry, rhubarb or apples?
And the potato salad looks delicious as well … I’ve yet to find my favourite potato salad recipe, so I might have to try this one! Anything with bacon is a winner in my books.
PS – I made the Chocolate Chip Cookies from your One Smart Cookie book last night and my husband LOVED them! Though I used shortening instead of butter or margarine – is there a huge difference with that? Oh, and I didn’t have the chocolate chips (seriously, who goes into chocolate chip cookie baking withOUT chocolate chips?) so I chopped up a Lindt Sea Salt chocolate bar and threw in some peanut butter chips, too. Yum.
K
Christina on 07 Aug 2009 at 12:52 pm #
I will be making some Brown Buttered Bliss for our desert tonight!! Just trying to decide what to put in it … strawberries, blueberries, nectarines, cherries … Oh the possibilities!
Morgan on 07 Aug 2009 at 1:03 pm #
That salad looks delicious! I use the same mix of ingredients for salad dressing on a lot of salads. I love the tangy flavor of the lemon juice mixed with the bitterness of the tahini. Just divine!
Angie on 07 Aug 2009 at 5:35 pm #
Mmmm… looks amazing! I think I might even be able to convince my family to eat something green and not be afraid!!
I am wondering about the browned sugar bliss… do you use white or brown sugar when you make it? I am guessing white from the recipe, but somehow brown sugar seems very appealing to me when I look at the picture of it… it’s probably just all that juicy fruit and brown yummy butter… Mmmm – do you think brown sugar would work in the recipe?
Love your blog, Julie. So glad you’ve decided to continue.
JulieVR on 07 Aug 2009 at 6:16 pm #
You could totally use brown sugar! In fact, I’m going to do just that next time! Generally in recipes like this (and especially cakes) they can be used interchangeably. You’re right, the brown sugar would go really well! Brown sugar browned butter bliss!
Sprout on 07 Aug 2009 at 6:17 pm #
This salad looks fantastic – I have a quick question. Does anyone know how long an open jar of Tahini will keep in the fridge?
Erica B. on 07 Aug 2009 at 10:51 pm #
Sprout – probably long past any date that might have been stamped on the label. I’ve had my organic tahini for probably a year and it’s still fine. Like most nut products, you’ll know when it goes rancid.
Erica B. on 07 Aug 2009 at 10:54 pm #
Julie – Check your email for the Hail to the Kale recipe
Rebecca on 08 Aug 2009 at 3:26 am #
I made the potato salad last night for dinner with chard and it was a big hit! This is definitely going to become a regular at our house.
Carolyn on 08 Aug 2009 at 5:52 pm #
I made the potato salad tonight. The only change I made was throw in some left over corn (off the cob), which I roasted for the last 10 minutes. The sweet-salty, slightly crispy combo of everything was amazing. Definately a make-again! Thank you!
Carol SB on 09 Aug 2009 at 6:06 am #
Ohh, YES! Browned Butter Bliss! I made this from your blog last summer and we all LOVED it.
Thank you for reminding me (esp. now, when we end up with just a couple of soft fruits on the counter…).
pauline on 09 Aug 2009 at 7:23 am #
Has anyone tried making the chips yet.
JulieVR on 09 Aug 2009 at 7:28 am #
Yes! Wash, dry, toss in oil and salt, roast at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until crisp. Easy! Yummy.
pauline on 09 Aug 2009 at 3:47 pm #
Ok gotta get me some Kale and I am gonna make these. Just sifting through your recipes Julie and we are having lamb kabobs tonight and I am so excited to make your recipe for Roasted potatoes with garlic, lemon and oregano, I think I will be in heaven. Hope its as hot in Calgary as it is here 24 deg yeah gotta love summer. We are registered for Christmas in November again, so looking forward to taking your class Julie always so much fun.
Velva on 09 Aug 2009 at 4:41 pm #
Okay, I am thinking after seeing your lunch menu that you are the house that I want to come to when I need to slack off an afternoon. Everything looked delicious!
Garlicky Roasted Potato Salad with Wilted Kale and Tahini Dressing … | canl? futbol maç sonuçlar? skorlar? on 16 Aug 2009 at 8:58 am #
[...] posted here: Garlicky Roasted Potato Salad with Wilted Kale and Tahini Dressing … sadas « previous post – next post [...]
Nicole on 12 Sep 2009 at 6:37 pm #
Love the blog and the great, simple recipes. Since I discovered the browned butter bliss it’s been a staple here – at least twice a week. Thanks! And kale chips=YUM!
Cheryl in NC on 11 Mar 2010 at 1:49 pm #
I love kale, so am eager to try this potato salad, Julie. Thanks for the recipe. As for the blissful Brown Butter bliss, I’ve made it twice now: once with apples on one side, plums on the other; and today with peaches, red plums and dried cranberries soaked in orange juice (I won’t soak them next time.) Absolute bliss, and everyone who’s tried them has LOVED them. Two people almost immediately asked me to bake them one and offered to pay me!! So thanks so, so much!! Love your blog, BTW.
Nicole on 19 Mar 2010 at 3:52 pm #
Hey Julie,
The browned butter bliss is now a regular in our house. Thank you! I was searching for a browned butter snack cake and have come up empty so far – any ideas? Could I make this without the fruit? I am looking for something I could whip up and serve with fruit and drizzles of caramel and chocolate. Love the blog!
Yogurt with Crème Chocolat | dinner with Julie on 30 Apr 2010 at 11:59 pm #
[...] Conference tonight and tomorrow. We left before noon, and as I rushed to pack I made a batch of garlicky roasted potato salad with wilted kale and tahini dressing to eat in the car (and to use up the kale). But I made something last night I kinda want to tell [...]
Yogurt with Crème Chocolat | dinner with Julie on 30 Apr 2010 at 11:59 pm #
[...] Conference tonight and tomorrow. We left before noon, and as I rushed to pack I made a batch of garlicky roasted potato salad with wilted kale and tahini dressing to eat in the car (and to use up the kale). But I made something last night I kinda want to tell [...]
Karen on 04 Sep 2010 at 6:16 pm #
Julie, I made the potato salad with kale and tahini. Hubby told me not to lose this recipe (as I’m prone to do with so many internet and cut out recipes all over the house.) Sooo delicious. Seriously, it’s one of those dishes where you take the first bite, look at each other and think “OMG do you TASTE that??”. Excellent combination of creamy potatoes, salty cheese, barely crispy kale and then the zing of the lemon/tahini mixture. After I made it I wanted to immediately make it again to take to my neighbours. Thanks for posting it.