southwestern-style potato salad

I wonder how many times the thought "Aha! A way to use purple potatoes and freshly picked cherry tomatoes at the same time!" will cross my mind in my lifetime. But it did, and am I ever happy to report that this is probably the best potato salad I've ever had.

So I really wanted to make this a little while ago, but the purple potatoes that I bought liquified in the pantry in three days (I blame the July heat). The coolest thing about this creamy potato salad is that it doesn't include mayo. The solution to mayo-free potato salad? Silken tofu! You know, the kind in a box on a shelf? That's the stuff. Now potato salad is safe for vegans and mayo-phobes, and it tastes super delicious!

I also dig anything with chipotle in it. Much to my husband's relief, I have learned that just because it comes in tiny cans with adobo sauce doesn't mean one can equals a reasonable addition to a recipe (whoopsie!). Here's a tip: I blended a whole can's worth of chilis and adobo sauce in the Magic Bullet, and then froze 1 T. blobs of it on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, then stuck them in a freezer bag for storage. Now you don't have to feel obligated to use a whole can :). This trick is also great for homemade pesto (minus the cheese) and tomato paste.

So here you go:
Southwestern-Style Potato Salad
(slightly adapted from Southern Style Three-Potato Salad in Passionate Vegetarian)

1 large sweet potato
3 lbs. small purple potatoes
1 T. ground cumin
2  Hungarian wax peppers; stem, seeds, and ribs removed, finely diced
1 poblano pepper; charred, peeled, seeds removed, diced
1 small white onion, finely diced
1 box silken tofu
2 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 T. lime juice
1 T. chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 t. salt
handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
3 T. fresh parsley
3 T. fresh cilantro

1. Prick the sweet potato with a fork and cook in the microwave, about 5 minutes. Let cool and peel.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and then boil the purple potatoes, skin on, for 15 minutes.
3. Put peppers, onion, and cumin in a bowl. Stir to combine and coat with cumin.
4. Combine the tofu, garlic, olive oil, lime juice, adobo chili paste, salt, cilantro, and parsley in a food processor until smooth. Stir the mixture into the peppers. Slice the purple potatoes into 1/2 inch thick discs (the skins will fall off, that's fine) and dice the sweet potato. Add the potatoes to the pepper and tofu mixture and toss to combine. Add the tomatoes and toss gently to combine.