Notes From Nikki-Roasted Fingerling and Tomato Salad with Tarragon Dressing

Photo by Kiah Graham

Roasted Fingerling and Tomato Salad with Creamy Tarragon Dressing

Hello summer! Hello heat! Thank goodness Claire is supplying us with ample amounts of salad greens to eat; light dinners for oppressively hot evenings (or lunches for afternoons). This recipe does call for a quick roasting of the baby fingerlings from your Inverbrook share in a hot oven. It doesn't take long though, and having roasted potatoes in a salad helps to add staying power. Feel free to use whatever type of tomatoes you have on hand. I just happened to find some local grape tomatoes that were divine. Enjoy, and stay cool!

Ingredients
1 bag of Inverbrook salad greens, washed, spun dry, and torn into bite-sized pieces
1/2 lb or so baby fingerling potatoes, washed (and scrubbed in spots if needed)
2 pints grape tomatoes, halved
2-3 T chopped chives
Handful of fresh tarragon leaves (or more, I love tarragon so I tend to go heavy)
3-4 T extra virgin olive oil, plus another tablespoon or so for roasting the potatoes
Dollop or two of mayo
Dollop or two of sour cream, plain whole milk yogurt, or even cottage cheese
2-3 tsp dijon mustard (depending on your taste for it)
1 tsp local honey (support local beekeepers :-))
Generous splash or two of white wine vinegar (or a big squeeze or two of lemon juice)
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Drizzle 1-2 T olive oil over a baking sheet and spread the potatoes over. Season with a bit of sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
3. Roast in the oven for until fork tender (about 15 minutes). Remove and set aside.
4. While the potatoes are cooling, put the chives, tarragon, 3 T olive oil (you can add more later if you need it), a dollop of mayo and a dollop of sour cream (or yogurt or cottage cheese... again you can add more later if need be), 2 tsp dijon (or more if you really like dijon), 1 tsp local honey, a generous splash of white wine vinegar or a squeeze of lemon, and a dash of sea salt and fresh ground pepper into a food processor or blender. Process until smooth.
5. Taste and adjust (very important!). At this point you can add in more mayo, sour cream (or yogurt or cottage cheese), vinegar or lemon juice, dijon, sea salt, chives, tarragon, etc. It took me a few tries to get this perfect, and my taste buds are different than yours so what worked for me won't necessarily work for you. Play with it. Have fun!
6. Toss the potatoes with the tomatoes and a bit of the dressing.
7. Toss the salad greens with a bit of the dressing.
8. Toss the dressed salad greens with the dressed potato/tomato mixture.
9. Drizzle with a bit more dressing if desired, and toss lightly again.
10. Serve topped with a bit of ground pepper, and a tarragon sprig for garnish.

Serves 4-6