Recently, Bellini Valli of More Than Burnt Toast posted a flavorful recipe for New Potato Salad with Mint. As soon as I read it, I knew I would make it soon. I love new potatoes and I like mint, of which I have a copious supply in my herb garden in the guise of Menta Piperita cv. Lavender Mint. So copious, in fact, that I need to keep an eye on it to avoid violent trespassing on its part on other herbs’ territory. I know, I should have kept it in a pot, but I didn’t, and now I live a life of eternal vigilance.

Fact is, I planted the seedling last year, in early summer, and it didn’t seem to be doing well at all. After cutting the sickly branches and giving it more space by pruning the neighboring sage (another plant prone to trespassing), the mint kind of exploded this year, growing tall, healthy branches (the photo shows only part of the bush, on the right, together with some of its neighbors).

Back from the garden and in the kitchen, I followed Valli’s recipe up to the seasoning step. At that point, I decided to make use of some other inhabitants of my little herb jungle, namely origano, maggiorana e santoreggia montana (oregano, marjoram and winter savory). My oregano is of the Italian kind and I have two varieties of marjoram. To the potatoes boiled in water with the mint leaves, I added the above-mentioned medley of herbs, finely slivered, plus the seasoning suggested in the original recipe, olio d’oliva, succo di limone, sale e pepe (olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper) to taste. Simple, satisfying… so good. 

Many thanks to Bellini Valli for her inspiring recipe.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event started over two years ago by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen and hosted this week by yours truly. Note that the link points to the new rules for the event that go into effect on July 20, 2008.

Here’s the roundup of WHB #141.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

insalata di patate novelle alla menta

or launch the  insalata di patate novelle alla menta  audio file [mp3].

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