6 - medium potatoes *
3 - boiled eggs
1 - small onion finely chopped
1 - clove of garlic finely minced
1 - stalk of celery
¼ - cup green pepper
¼ - cup purple pepper
¼ - cup red pepper
¼ - cup yellow pepper
Pickle Relish - a few tablespoons or so to taste
¼ cup plus mayonnaise or more to taste
1 tablespoon of mustard
Pinch of each of these herbs or to taste - thyme, sage, basil and oregano
Sea Salt to taste

Steam potatoes until done, remove immediately from steamer and rinse with cold water, then set aside. While your potatoes cool, chop onion, garlic, celery and peppers. Separate yoke from boiled egg whites and dice. Cut potatoes into cubes, and then gently turn in onion, garlic and pepper mixture. Mash egg yokes and combine well with mayonnaise, mustard, relish, sea salt and herbs. Mix gently, but well.
Serve with a sprinkling of fragrant paprika powder along side slices of fresh tomato (I love this meal with Flame or Persimmon Tomatoes for additional color).

*The most beautiful memory I have of this salad is from a year when I grew a mixture of colorful Peruvian potatoes. I had some purple ones with white star shaped centers, deep blue and buff, while others had a variety of pinkish tones. My harvest was never very large, having to share with the voles. I appreciated those potatoes for their unusual color, dense flesh and pronounced flavor. They add a special touch of color to Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, and I definetly enjoy combining them with other potatoes to brighten up winter dishes.

When harvesting, it was easy to miss tiny blue marble sized potatoes that would then over winterer in the garden. For a number of years after I stopped planting the Peruvians, each spring there would emerge dozens of fuzzy stemmed new plants.

Patricia C. Coleman makes art, tells stories, teaches, writes and does web design.