Picnic Perfect Potato Salad

This potato salad was a highlight of our Father's Day dinner menu. I served it along side grilled turkey bratwursts (no buns), grilled sweet onions, and a fancy green salad my sister-in-law provided. The potato salad was a hit around the table and I know a few people went back for more. Today it made a very satisfying lunch with a couple of poached eggs and some watermelon.

I really like the visual impact of multi-colored fingerling potatoes. Feel free to use only red or gold skinned potatoes in place of the rainbow medley if you prefer a mellower looking side dish. My favorite part of preparing this salad was making the mayonnaise for the dressing. I had never tried making my own mayo before. Mayo from scratch turned out to be a quick and entertaining activity. Bonus - I had to borrow one of Mr. Second Helpings hands to hold the mixing container thus allowing us a brief tender moment in the process of whipping the heck out of an egg yolk.

Homemade mayo or not I hope you enjoy making and eating this potato salad as much as we did!

Rainbow Potato Salad

As with most potato salad recipes these flavors are enhanced with a bit of time. Make this dish a day in advance or at least a few hours before serving. If you prefer your potato salad with a little crunch, add some diced green bell pepper or minced celery to this recipe.

Prep time: 20 minutes plus 1 hour to chill potatoes & 4 hours - overnight to chill the finished salad, Cook time: 20 minutes; Yield approximately 13 (1 cup) servings

Ingredients

• 3 lbs fingerling potatoes

Dressing

• ⅓ cup mayonnaise (make your own!)
• ⅓ cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• ¼ cup minced green onion (white part only)
• 3 tablespoons pickled capers with the brine
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon dry dill (sub 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill)
• ⅛ teaspoon salt

Method

1. Fill a large pot ⅔ full with water and bring to a boil. Wash the potatoes and halve any that are especially large. If using a multicolor mix separate the purple potatoes from the others. Once the water has boiled add all the potatoes except the purple ones. Let the potatoes boil for 5 minutes before adding the purple potatoes. Boil all the potatoes for 10 additional minutes. The potatoes are finished when you can easily pierce them with a fork.
2. Rinse the cooked potatoes with cool water to stop the cooking process and chill them in the refrigerator until cold throughout (about an hour). If possible arrange the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet to expedite the cooling. Once the potatoes are completely cold chop them into bite size pieces and put them into your salad bowl.
3. Prepare the dressing by mixing together the mayonnaise, yogurt, and mustard before folding in the remaining ingredients. Pour the dressing over the dressing over the chopped potatoes and mix gently until they are evenly coated. Refrigerate the finished salad for several hours, leave overnight if possible.

Approximate nutrition per serving: 119 calories, 3.7 g fat, 19 g. carbohydrate, 1.5 g fiber, 3 g. protein, PP = 3