Potato Salad
10 September 2011
I think I mentioned back in winter that when summer rolled in I would post a recipe for the best potato salad ever. And then I forgot until yesterday. I forgot to make it myself. I went through the entire summer (yes, summer is almost over) and didn't make this potato salad. Well, I finally made it yesterday.
I got the original recipe from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook. It's written by Nava Atlas, who is a nice woman and told me I could repost some of her recipes. She has a website, VegKitchen.com, which is completely vegan. This book is vegetarian, but most recipes suggest alternatives if you want to veganize it.
For example, this recipe, which is on page 72 if you're following along, calls for feta. I used to make it with feta. I've been making this recipe for a while now, and the feta has always been the only thing that wasn't vegan, because I've always used Veganaise instead of mayonnaise. The recipe calls for soy mayonnaise.
Anywho, here it is:
5 medium-large Red-Skinned or Yukon Gold Potatoes
1/2 c Soy Mayonnaise
2 t Yellow Mustard
1 Celery Stalk
1 c Green Peas, Frozen
Salt & Pepper
Optional Additions
1/2 Medium Red Bell Pepper
Crumbled Feta
1 to 2 Scallions
Toasted Sunflower Seeds
Fresh Dill
Chopped Parsley
Now that I've written all that out, it occurs to me that I make it very differently now. But I wouldn't have known where to start without Nava's help.
First the directions, then my altered recipe. The trick is to cut everything as small as you possibly can. The potatoes cook very quickly when they're really small. Then I throw it in the freezer while I prepare the rest, which is all raw. The smaller you cut each item, the more variety you'll have in each bite.
So here's what I do normally...I don't measure anymore:
10 Potatoes, red or Yukon
1 of each Bell Pepper: Red, Orange & Yellow
1 Celery Stalk
1 Red Onion
Sunflower Seeds, raw or toasted
Veganaise
Dijon Mustard
Parsley, chopped
Salt & Pepper
I guess that's it. If you need measurements, go by Nava's original recipe.
This potato salad is super colorful, and super delicious.
Yesterday, I made it a little differently, and it was still delicious.
I added some cooked beets, cutting them as small as I could.
And I added raw broccoli, also cut super small.
I
omitted the celery...because I forgot.
I threw some miniature romaine leaves around it for prettiness. The beets turned the whole salad a little pink, which is fine. Normally the potatoes are whiter, which makes the green, yellow, orange, red and purple stand out more. But we had beets we needed to use.
Nava's recipe is called "Expandable Potato Salad," because you can add whatever you want to make it bigger and feed more people. So really, even with my alterations, I'm still following the recipe. Thanks Nava.
