Colorado potato salad

Colorado potatoes. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. See? Now that's funny right there. No SRSLY, think globally but buy produce locally, which is a fine adage to go by if you happen to live in the Alsace Lorraine or the Burgogone, or possibly even California, but Colorado, eh, not so much. But we can at least try, thus the Colorado potatoes, if that's what these things are and not a cat poo variety pack. I'll let you know. I bought 'em because they were cute.

New potatoes put into boiling salted water, not cold water and brought up to a boil together like usually with potatoes, which is done with larger potatoes to guarantee even cooking all the way through the potato from the surface to the inside. That's not a great idea with Pigmy potatoes like this. The larger of these diminutive tubers should be cut to be the same size as the rest, for even cooking, which turns out to be fast. They're unceremoniously dumped into a vinaigrette while still hot because they absorb the flavors better that way. Otherwise, they just become lightly coated.

The vinaigrette,

* vinegar
* oil
* honey
* mustard
* a dash of Vindaloo curry
* salt
* pepper

No messing around with the vinaigrette, just dump it all in and whisk. I could have probably left out the habanero chile flakes I added impulsively, seemed like a good idea, but I could have done without burning my lips off.

That up there ^^^ was the main idea. Everything else was just stuff I had around that struck me like it might be good tonight, and it turned out great. I just kept adding stuff and turning it around in the vinaigrette as I added. I wanted to be sure to use a lot of basil because my plants are almost touching the lights and I can not move the lights up any more because the whole thing is on top of the refrigerator and there isn't any more room, plus the cuttings are starting to bolt. There is as much basil as there is lettuce, and that is fine with me. The main flavors coming through are the curry and the basil, and this fills my mouth with glee.

The shrimp was added frozen to the same water as the potatoes, which halted the boiling, and then promptly lifted out with a slotted spoon after just a few minutes cooking and before the potatoes finished, which themselves cooked fairly quickly, so the whole thing didn't take but a few minutes. Total elapsed time, well, time's not really my bag, but I'd say about 8.23784938 minutes. Just guessin'.

You'll notice a little puddle of vinaigrette at the bottom of the ingredients as they're first added that disappears as more ingredients are piled in. The first ingredients are what coat the following ingredients as they tumble. How do I judge the quantity to start with so that there's enough without supersaturating? Experience! That's how.

The following is a photo essay on a carelessly improvised salad that turned out stupendously.