Why is it so goddamn cold? Or, how to ingest the maximum amount of carbs.

In winter, animals get grumpy.

Because it's ridiculously cold, and wet, and mindblowingly dreary. And some of us do not have a proper fur coat, and also can't sleep for 18 hours a day, though we have certainly been trying.

It's a known fact that potatoes are good for keeping poor people alive in the winter. They are carbs incarnate. They are the premade blubber of the natural world. And we have multiple ways to make them even more conducive to hibernation: frying, baking in cream, and of course covering them in cheese.

I should point out that is cheese covering my potatoes, not mold. I know the picture makes it hard to tell. Or, if you want to think you're being healthier, then go ahead and think of it as mold. Yummy yummy goat mold.



Warm Potato Salad with Goat Cheese (originally featured in NYT, and found on Food Junta, which is a great winter survival site.)

Ingredients:

For the dressing
-1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
-1 tbsp lemon juice
-salt to taste
-1 tsp Dijon mustard (I actually forgot the mustard when I made this, and it was still great)
-1 small minced garlic clove
-1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the salad:
-1 and 1/2 pounds fingerling, Yukon gold, or red bliss potatoes
-salt and pepper to taste
-2 to 4 tbsp finely chopped red onion
-2 tbsp chopped parsley
-2 oz soft goat cheese (we actually used 4, because that was the package size, and really I wouldn't use any less.)
-2-3 sage leaves, cut into thin slivers (optional. Meaning I didn't use it)


Scrub the potatoes, and slice or dice them into small chunks. Steam for about fifteen minutes.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Mix the onion, parsley, and chunked goat cheese in your salad bowl.

Pour the hot potatoes over it, and combine. The goat cheese will melt all over everything fast. Then salt and pepper to taste, and eat while hot


I hated potato salad before this. Mostly because anything that sits in mayo on a hot day seems like a health hazard. But this is so warm and good, you could eat it as it's own meal. I don't know how it survives when cold, because there wasn't any left to experiment on the next day. But the only thing I might add next time is some bacon. And maybe that mustard I forgot.