I was biking on the Maisonneuve bike path a few weeks ago and I saw a homeless man standing on the side of the road pointing at the ground ahead of me. Oh, he’s warning me about a pothole! I thought. How friendly and helpful! Now that’s something special about this city – the warmth of the people.
But there was nothing in the road – no gap in the smooth asphalt ready to take me off my bike – and as I sped by I thought I heard the man say, “Attention! Patate!” Hmm…A potato? He’s warning me about a potato in the road? I thought. Where was this alleged potato? There was definitely no potato on the road.
A smile crept to my lips at the absurdity of the situation, but at the same time I couldn’t help being a little disappointed. The man hadn’t saved me from either a pothole or a potato, and he was probably just a little crazy. And crazy isn’t quaint or endearing.
So in homage to this man I mashed some potatoes. Well, smashed.
Ingredients:
3 boiled, drained, potatoes – peeled and hacked into large chunks. Plus,
Some blanched and diced bok choy (greens and stems blanched separately since the whites take 3-5 minutes longer to soften)
Some snipped dill
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp jalapeno dijon mustard (just use regular dijon plus 1 tbsp diced fresh jalapeno, or just 1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne or some kind of chili powder or sauce)
1/4 tsp – 1/2 tsp salt.
I mixed it all with a rubber spatula and that’s all the mashing I did. I can just picture the man on the side of the road pointing out the imaginary potato with a rubber spatula. Who’s the crazy one? Him or me?
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