Recipe: Perfect Roasted Potatoes

Whether they're fried, baked, mashed, or roasted, I think potatoes are the ultimate comfort food.  My longstanding love affair with potatoes stems from my mother, who derives no particular joy from cooking but will make an exception when it comes to potatoes. I remember eating a lot of baked potatoes as a child, but occasionally - and this was a real treat - we'd have them tossed with dried rosemary and roasted until the skins attained a satisfying crunch. Other than peas (yes, really), I think roasted potatoes were my most often-requested dish growing up.

Herbs! Herbs! Herbs!

This is my favorite time of year. Why? Drumroll, please... it's farmer's market season! Once May rolls around and the farmer's market is open for business, I can finally clear out last year's herbs from the freezer and get some new seedlings growing.

Fresh herbs make everything taste better and can elevate even the simplest recipe to new heights. Food tastes fresh, vibrant, and revitalized. Herbs even work magic with leftovers - add fresh rosemary to yesterday's mashed potatoes and you'll have a brand-new dish on your hands.

Though I would much prefer to grow herbs in the ground, it's not in the cards right now due to some prickly HOA stipulations, so a tabletop herb garden will have to do. Luckily for me, last year's thyme and chives have survived the winter and are already beginning to grow back. On our first trip to the farmer's market, we rounded out the rest of the slate with parsley, tarragon, basil, cilantro, rosemary, mint, and sage.

Add some pretty white pots, and I'm ready for a season full of fresh herbs. Bring on the summer!