spontaneous veggie hot potato salad

This dish initially had other aspirations. Leftover turkey meatloaf a third night this week bob was thinking, but this time some mashed potatoes on the side! Mashed potatoes with some sautéed veggies incorporated. So the plan is initiated before ani returns from work. And announces that she can't eat meat that night. Why not? Wednesdays and Fridays. Lent. Oh. Bob is a bit pissed but accepts the decree. No meat for bob either, but ani has to take over the meal direction (bob insists). The potatoes are boiled. The veggies are done. What to do? Ani decides to mix them together, toss in a handful of arugula (the jagged stuff, like in Italy) and a bit of allspice, and it becomes hot potato salad. And the entree for the evening, with a side salad of lemon-olive oil arugula and some halved grape tomatoes added in. It works. Everybody is happy.

ingredients

2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cleaned and cubed (less than a cm side), skins left on

2 T olive oil

1/2 stalk celery, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1/6 red pepper, 1/6 green pepper, chopped finely

1 side layer of a fennel bulb, diced finely

1 baby eggplant, cubed like the tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

some boiling water

a pinch of allspice

1 T butter, sliced thin

instructions

1. Prepare the potatoes and barely cover with salted water and boil about 15 minutes until tender.
2. Clean and prep the celery, peppers, fennel, and baby eggplant, or whatever you can scavenge from the refrigerator.
3. Heat the oil in a stir fry pan or chef's pan and dump in all the veggies except the eggplant and sauté them a bit (a little salt brings out the flavor?), then toss in the eggplant cubes too and continue sautéing until everything is softened, stirring to prevent sticking or burning.
4. Grind in some black pepper.
5. When patience wears thin, pour in say a quarter cup of boiling water and let go on low heat for a while while it continues to cook.
6. Drain the potatoes and combine with the veggies and the thin slices of butter (to melt quicker), add the allspice and adjust for salt and pepper, mixing up the ingredients with the final addition of the arugula.
7. Serve. No meatloaf. No mashing. Enjoy anyway.

notes

1. Lent. If you can't say something good, don't say it, bob. Too many people to offend unnecessarily.
2. Illustrations available.