One of my standbys, especially when little baby potatoes are available by the bucketful, is this warm pesto-inspired potato salad. The little bitty potatoes and French (or green!) beans are briefly boiled, then rinsed into cold water to make sure they stay firm and wonderful instead of disintegrating into a mushy mess. Briefly boiled, so that when the temperature rises you don’t make things worse by running that stove for too long.

Add in chopped raw garlic and a good, flavorful olive oil. Then, shredded basil and toasted pine nuts complete the pesto inspiration. I suppose you could add in some Parmesan as well if you’re so inclined, but I don’t bother with that because I am lazy and would rather not have to wash a microplane if it’s not entirely necessary.

The entire thing comes together in less than half an hour, leaving more time for watching reruns of Mythbusters — or maybe doing something more productive, if you’re an overachieving show-off.

“Pesto” Potato Salad
From my HipCooks class

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 18 minutes

1 1/2 lbs new potatoes, any color(s), sliced in halves if they’re bigger than bite-sized
heaping handful of French or green beans, ends trimmed
1/3 cup basil leaves, torn or chiffonade
3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted
generous drizzles of extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
lemon juice

Toss the potatoes into boiling salted water. Cook for about 6 minutes, keeping an eye on things to make sure they don’t overcook. Toss in the green beans and boil for two more minutes.

Prep an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice water. Drain the potatoes and green beans in a colander, then plunge the colander into the ice water to halt the cooking process. Drain and set aside in a large bowl.

Add the basil and garlic into the bowl, then drizzle with olive oil, add juice from one lemon, and season with salt and pepper. Toss everything until combined. Season until it’s to your liking.

Add in the pine nuts and toss one more time. Serve warm or at room temperature.