Picnic Potato Salad

4
Serves

You'll find this potato salad is a bit different from traditional ones, but just as delicious. It's creamy yet piquant, and features tender fingerling potatoes that don't need to be peeled. The potatoes are steamed, rather than boiled, so they retain their shape and vitamins. The still-warm fingerlings quickly soak up the Dijon vinaigrette. There's a little mayonnaise added later for creaminess, along with some scallions and celery for crunch.Make this salad your own by stirring in your favorite ingredients, like capers, salad pickles, diced hard-boiled egg, bacon bits, or whatever suits you best.

From Food to Live By: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook by Myra Goodman 

 

Ingredients

2 pounds thin-skinned potatoes, preferably fingerling (cut into 1/2-inch chunks)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
3 tablespoons minced fresh Italian flat leaf parsley
3/4 cup sliced celery
1 bunch scallions (including white and about 3 inches of green, trimmed and sliced thin (about 3/4 cup))

Directions

Place the potatoes in a steamer basket set over a large saucepan filled with about 1/2 inch of boiling water. Steam the potatoes over medium-high heat, covered, until they are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a glass jar and seal the lid tightly. Shake the jar vigorously to combine. Taste the vinaigrette for seasonings, adding pepper to taste and more salt as needed.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and transfer them to a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette and toss to coat the warm potatoes. Let the potatoes cool, and set the remaining vinaigrette aside.

When the potatoes have cooled to room temperature, add the mayonnaise and stir to combine. If the salad seems too dry, stir in some of the remaining vinaigrette. Add the dill, parsley, celery, and scallions, and stir to combine.

Refrigerate the salad, covered, for at least 2 hours before serving for the flavors to develop. It can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Serve chilled.