No-Mayo Potato Salad

 

For a healthier potato salad without the opaque familiarity of mayonnaise, I thought I would try a no-mayo potato salad. It certainly emphasized the salad more than the dressing, with the reliance on fresh herbs, oil and vinegar. It is an ideal savoury palatable welcoming change, one that will be on repeat in our house. This salad gets better on the second day and if need to freshen it up just add more fresh herbs and possibly a handful of spinach leaves. 

No- Mayo Potato Salad

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1  1.5 lb/680g  small bag of mini red potatoes

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, plus 1 or 2 tablespoons extra

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 spring onions (green onion), thinly sliced

2 tablespoons fresh dill

1 tablespoon fresh oregano

3 tablespoons fresh parsley

Put the potatoes in a large sauce pan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, add a teaspoon on Kosher salt, and cook the potatoes until tender, about 10 15 minutes, a fork should be able to gently pierce them. Drain well.

Allow the potatoes to cool enough to handle and cut them in half and place them in a large mixing bowl. While the potatoes are warm, sprinkle with 1 to 2 tablespoons of vinegar and let cool to absorb the vinegar.

In a medium bowl whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, Kosher salt, black pepper, slices of spring onion, dill and oregano.

Drizzle the dressing over the potato mixture and gently toss. Add the chopped fresh parsley and toss again. Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container for 3 to 4 days. 

Notes: This recipe can easily be doubled. Herbs can be substituted for others and according to your taste. If unable to find fresh herbs use dry herbs just adjust the quantity. Red onions may be used instead of spring onions and infused olive oils may be tried as well. 

Food Photo of the Day ~ Potato Salad

 

No long weekend would be complete without me making potato salad. Fresh golden nugget potatoes from British Columbia, shredded carrot and thick slices of green onion toppled in a rich and creamy smoky herb dressing that will generously be scattered with strips of crisp Canadian bacon before serving. A familiar side dish that will be scrumptiously devoured all weekend long.   

Food Photo of the Day ~ Potato Salad

Potato salad the dependable summer side dish that goes with just about everything. When you have leftover homemade potato salad and leftover mini taco bowls; together,  they are the perfect way to get creative for lunch; just scoop potato salad into the taco bowl top with grated vegetables and chopped lettuce and you have a deliciously cool summer time lunch. Simple!     

Hope everyone is having an okay week. - JD 

Potato Carrot Salad

When making this classic summer salad, I was not alone... my daughter gave me a helping culinary hand. She applied her muscles to grate the carrots. With two involved making this  delicious potato salad was a breeze. 

Potato Carrot Salad

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1 - 2 bags of mini baby potatoes 

1/2 cup plain Greek yoghurt

1/2 cup light mayonnaise 

2 teaspoons grainy mustard

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

4 teaspoons white sugar

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika 

3 green onions, sliced

2 carrots, grated

salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the potatoes and cook until tender but still slightly firm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Drain. Rinse the potatoes under cool water and allow to drain again. When cool slice the cooked potatoes in half. Place the slices into a large serving bowl. Set aside.

In another bowl, preferably a medium sized one, combine and blend together the Greek yoghurt, mayonnaise, grainy mustard, white wine vinegar, sugar, paprika, sliced green onions, and the grated carrots. Pour over the cooled potato slices and gently toss to coat. Add a dash of salt and pepper, to taste. Chill and serve. 

Notes: Instead of using mini baby potatoes you may also use 2 pounds of russet potatoes. I just found the mini potatoes easier. This recipe lends for easy substitutions and additions, according to your own tastes, if you so wish. 

Leftovers #7 - Roasted Potato and Chickpea Salad

I made this quick and simple salad by putting to use the leftover roasted potatoes we had the other night and about 1/3 cup of chickpeas that were leftover from those yummy Chickpea and Chocolate Chip cookies. 

I first chopped the the celery and green onions and placed them in a bowl. I then added the chickpeas. I diced, without any rhyme or reason, the potatoes and added them to the bowl. Tossing gently and adding about 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and a 1/4 cup of greek yoghurt. Then came a couple of pinches of pepper. A 1/4 teaspoon of cumin and 1 1/2 teaspoons of curry powder. You can always adjust the cumin and curry spices to your liking. I luv the taste and aroma of curry therefore I could not resist adding a bit more. Stir gently to coat. Let it mellow for about an hour, or longer if possible, in the refrigerator so all the flavours can come together. Then serve. 

I washed and cut the top of of a red pepper. Cleaned out the inside and placed the potato salad in the hollowed out pepper. There is a little bit left for today's lunch and I am sure the curry flavour has intensified.  - JW  

Curried Potato Salad

For some reason this week it's all about the curry powder and potatoes. Not that I am   complaining! It started with the potato kedgeree and will end with a potato strudel. Last night I made a curried potato salad. My plan was to use the recipe from the cookbook I reviewed yesterday, The Nobel Spud. However when I get reading any recipe my mind starts bubbling with ways to tweak it. Until I finally say... "well this is what I am going to do." That's exactly what I have done here. This is my recipe:

7 medium potatoes - boiled with their skins on

half a red onion - peeled and chopped

half a white/yellow onion - peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter or low-sodium margarine 

2 teaspoons curry powder

celery - 2 stalks chopped

1 cup or half of a 600 gram tub of plain low fat organic yoghurt

1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise

pinch of salt

pepper 

chopped watercress - optional

3 chopped hard-boiled eggs - optional

1) Boil the potatoes with their skins on and cook until firm. A fork should be able to pierce the potato not slide through it... you want them cooked but not over cooked. When the potatoes are done. Drain and rinse with cold water. This stops them from cooking any further.

2) Chop the onions. Add the butter to a hot pan and melt. Once the butter has melted add the onions. Fry until almost transparent. Then add the curry powder. Stir and mix well. Cook for another few minutes longer. Then remove from heat.

3) Chop the celery. Then chop the boiled potatoes.

4) In a large bowl combined the potatoes, celery and curried onions and mix gently. Making sure not to break the potatoes up too much. Then add the yoghurt, mayonnaise and salt and pepper. Gently mix together. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or overnight. Letting the flavour set.

I would luv to add watercress, unfortunately watercress is very hard to find here. Using a low fat yoghurt reduces the fat content. You can also omit the curry powder if you don't fancy it. You then may want to add some garlic, chives or dill to flavour the potato salad. You can also try adding chopped apples, chicken, dried cranberries... the possibilities are almost endless. There was some salad left over so I will be having that for lunch today. - JW