raise your hand if there are certain food items that you don't gel with. for a long time i had a strong aversion to cilantro, which i partly blame on a bad guacamole experience when i was younger. however, fast forward a couple years when my husband and i went to costa rica for our honeymoon; we were served cilantro in just about everything, causing me a mild amount of anxiety about whether i wanted to eat most the food there. but after tasting various preparations using different spices and techniques, i was converted forever and now cilantro is one of my favorite herbs.

i mention this because i've had a random week of eating cabbage for almost every evening meal. this is random because i never ever eat cabbage, the taste and smell is something that's never been appealing to me, and many of the cabbage dishes i grew up with were covered in massive amounts of mayo. my distaste for it aside, i decided to pick up 2 baby cabbages at the market the other week, partly because i thought i would experiment with them, but mostly because they were super cute and tiny. they sat in my crisper for the better part of a week before we went out to eat at frank's fave restaurant, hometown, which virtually has zero vegetables on the menu. so naturally, i chose the cabbage slaw. turns out i loved its subtle cabbage-y flavor and the punchiness from what i can only imagine was vinegar. then we made sara's grilled halibut sandwich es and topped them with a good amount of her cabbage and jalepeno slaw, which was maybe the best thing i've eaten in a while!

with 2 very positive cabbage experiences i felt confident enough in my fondness for it. i began conceptualizing this potato dish and thought that their vibrant purple color would play beautifully off the muted fingerlings, plus i was thinking that this dish needed a subtle crunch that the cabbage could surely lend. and that it did. i would confidently say that this is one of my favorite combinations, along with the garlicky turmeric sauce which is punchy, and earthy, and perfectly creamy. i suppose the moral of the story is to never shelf a specific food item; that something can be prepared one way and totally not your thing, while if it's prepared a different way can yield a completely different experience.

happy mid-august, all! xo

warm fingerling potatoes w/ garlic-turmeric sauce (v + gf)

any small potato will work beautifully here, however be sure to adjust the cook time if the potatoes are smaller than your pinkie. the garlic-turmeric sauce gives the potatoes and cabbage a nice creaminess, kind of like a light potato salad. but if that's not your thing, i would suggest maybe using it for dipping.

| serves 4 as a side |

garlic-turmeric sauce

1/2 cup dairy-free cultured coconut yogurt (i use this one)
2 teaspoons tahini paste
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 large (or 2 small) garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh turmeric (or 1 teaspoon dried ground turmeric)
fine sea salt + freshly ground pepper

potatoes

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 pound fingerling potatoes, scrubbed and cut lengthwise
large grain sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
1/4 cup chopped chives
a few pinches black or white sesame seeds

method

for the sauce

in a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, tahini, vinegar, garlic, and turmeric, season with salt and pepper. taste and adjust as necessary. place in a lidded jar and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

for the potatoes

preheat the oven to 400*F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. use a pastry brush to brush the paper liberally with olive oil, set aside.
in a bowl, toss together the potatoes and olive oil, sprinkle with large grain salt and fresh pepper. place the potatoes cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet and roast until the bottoms are lightly browned, about 20-22 minutes. use tongs to turn potatoes over and roast until potatoes are golden and tender, about 10 minutes. remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. then toss together with shredded cabbage and chives.
remove sauce from refrigerator and give it a good stir; drizzle potatoes with the sauce and toss together. serve potatoes warm with more turmeric sauce if desired.

enjoy!