If the world ended tomorrow, and you survived, what would you eat?

In Andy Weir’s hard-to-put-down book The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney has been left for dead on Mars. Now tens of millions of miles from home, stranded, incommunicado, and very much alive, he has to figure out how to survive on his own for four years. His best bet, he decides, is potatoes.

It’s not a bad choice either. Potatoes are prolific, filling, and packed with useful nutrients. One middling-sized spud contains 3 grams of protein, 2.7 grams of dietary fiber, 23 grams of carbohydrate—mostly in the form of starch, plus significant amounts of potassium and other minerals, and about half the adult Recommended Daily Allowance of Vitamin C. In