I’m back on the work from home lifestyle for a few days this week, which means I have some time to treat myself to a nice home-made lunch in the middle of the day while my computer chat dings and flashes at me incessantly.  It’s important to me to take a few minutes away from my computer to have a little break regardless of what my coworkers are up to, and during that time today I cooked up a meal that was so good that I had to share!

I’ve had a little container of freshly harvested spring potatoes in my fridge from my CSA box that finally got their time to shine today.  I chopped them into bite-sized chunks, boiled them in well-salted water, tossed them in butter, sliced scallions, lemon zest, and lemon thyme, and served it warm on top of a fresh bed of arugula dressed with a little balsamic vinegar.  This lunch was the perfect combination of warm and cool, creamy and crunchy, rich and fresh.  It was so perfect that I boxed up the second half for my lunch tomorrow, which I will enjoy at my desk in the office, wishing that I was working from home.

Recipe down below, photo up top!

Warm Potato Salad with Arugula

Ingredients:

• 8 small potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
  • Red or Yukon Gold potatoes would work great!
• 1 ½ tbsp butter
• 2 scallions, cut into thin slices
• Zest from 1 lemon
• ½ tsp lemon thyme, thyme, or rosemary
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 cups fresh arugula
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Method:

1. Wash and cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces.  Add the potato pieces into a small saucepan filled with cold water.  Add the salt to the water and put the pan over medium high heat.  Once the water is boiling, cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes, or until completely tender when poked with a fork.  Once tender, remove from the heat and drain into a colander.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, chop scallions, zest lemon, and chop herbs and add into a bowl large enough for the potatoes.  Add the butter into the bowl with the herbs, lemon zest, and scallions.  When potatoes have been cooked and drained, add the hot potatoes to the bowl and stir to combine.  Allow the butter to melt completely and stir to be sure all of the potatoes get incorporated with the butter and herbs. 
3. Arrange the arugula on a plate and sprinkle the balsamic vinegar around the top.  Add ½ of the warm potato salad to the top of arugula.  Serve the other half of the potato salad immediately as a salad for a friend, or refrigerate for another lunch tomorrow!
4. Enjoy!