Salad: Potato, Cress, and Quail Egg

I've had a few requests lately to start including recipes in my posts. I'm disposed against them though. I tend to not use recipes, and any that I do use are bound to be the work of others. A lot of the food that you see here, to borrow an insult once directed at Alice Waters, has as much to do with shopping as it does cooking.


So it is with this dish, based on my memory of a similar salad served at Chez Panisse. The quail eggs and cress can be found at the Grand Lake Farmers' Market. I'm a big fan of the greens that County Line Harvest sells there, everything from white peacock kale to heirloom chicory varieties. Their water cress is peppery and tender, without being bitter.

I cooked these quail eggs for about 6 minutes, 4 minutes is probably best for a semi-soft boil. A Meyer Lemon vinaigrette, with plenty of dijon mustard, works well with the potato and stands up to the cress.