Potato Salad Success (or, what I ate on Saturday)

Once again, Saturday was my red letter day for cooking. The day started out with a trip to the farmer's market, as per usual. Our brunch was waffles with sauteed apples. I'm not satisfied with my waffle recipes yet. I've been working mostly out of Joy and usually use at least some whole wheat flour. They taste good but aren't nice and crispy. Does anybody have any tips for making a crispier waffle?

Anyhow, the real success of the day came with dinner. One could call it "Farm Box Reject Variety Show" or, more flatteringly, "A Summer Salad Spectacular." I had a few farm box items that, for a variety of reasons, had been lurking in my fridge for >1 week and seriously needed to be used. Part of the problem (if this is really a problem) is that I had some unexpected free food opportunities over the past week. Anyhow, I needed to get rid of a sliver of red cabbage, some beet roots, lettuce, a pepper, and potatoes stat. I created a beet and red cabbage salad based on Jo's recipe, though of course I substituted red cabbage for the carrots. I also used almond oil rather than walnut, added sunflower seeds, and topped with sliced purple/green bell pepper. It made for a lovely presentation when placed atop some large red cabbage leaves in a bowl.

I also made a french potato salad based off of Ina Garten's recipe in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (referred to below as BCC). Let's get this out of the way right now: I love Barefoot Contessa and I love this cookbook! Everything I've made from this book has been fabulous, and Garten's style conveys her love of food so much that it makes you love it, too. Ok, plug over. Anyhow, I started with her recipe and adjusted the ingredients to fit my pantry and taste. My version has significantly less oil, uses different herbs, and adds celery and eggs. I include her original ingredients next to mine when I made a substitution of necessity so that if you are blessed with a fuller pantry you can decide between the two. Either take is an entirely different beast from the American mayo-ful potato salad.

French Potato Salad



1 qt small red potatoes
2 eggs
1.5 stalks celery
2T wine (I used red, BCC calls for white)
2T veggie stock
3T rice wine vinegar (BCC: champagne vinegar)
1t Dijon mustard
1/2t salt
1/2t black pepper
3T EVOO
Some (8-10ish) chives, chopped
Some (6-8ish) basil leaves, chiffonaded

Boil potatoes in salted water until cooked through, 20-35 min.
Hard boil eggs (I use Joy's cold water start method)
When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut into quarters (or halves, or 8ths, depending on the size/your preference). Do not drop a potato into your toaster (how did that even happen?)
Place in a bowl, drizzle with the stock and wine, and toss gently with a spoon.
Allow the liquids to soak into the potatoes before adding any more ingredients.
Make the dressing by whisking together vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Pour over the potatoes.
Slice the eggs and the celery and add to the potatoes.
Add the fresh herbs.
Toss gently with a spoon to mix.
Serve over a bed of lettuce or eat solo.



You could monkey around with this recipe a lot, depending on what you have available. Tomatoes and dill would be a good addition, as would green onions and parsley if you leave out the celery and chives. Or how about olives? I think I should make it again next weekend and find out.

Until next time (next Saturday?) !