Potato Salad

Nothing hits the spot with barbecue like a good potato salad. Here’s a basic recipe. If you want a vegan version, skip the eggs and use a vegan mayonnaise.

Ingredients

4-5 medium-sized potatoes (about 5 cups)
1 red pepper
½ c. chopped onion or 1 tbsp. onion powder/granules
½ c. chopped celery
3 hard-boiled eggs
½ c. mayonnaise (use more if you like it creamier)
¼ c. sweet pickle relish
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. mustard
1 tsp. black pepper
1-2 tsp. dill weed
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
1 tsp. celery seed
dusting of paprika
salt to taste

Directions

Bring 12 cups of water (and a tsp. of salt) to bowl in a pot with ample room for the potatoes. While waiting for the water to boil, chop the potatoes into chunks of approximately one inch. When the water is at a rolling bowl, put the potatoes in. They will take about 20 minutes of cooking at a rolling bowl. Check them periodically with a fork to be sure they are not too mushy. You want them just soft, not crunchy.

You can boil the eggs separately or, do as I do, and toss them into the pot of boiling potatoes for 10 minutes. They are easy to fish out with a pair of tongs. Cool the eggs immediately in cold water and peel them right away. (If you wait to peel them then you will have trouble getting the shells off nicely.) Chop the eggs as if for egg salad before combining them with the other ingredients.

Chop the vegetables into small pieces. Use fresh dill and fresh parsley if possible.

When the potatoes are cooked to satisfaction, drain them, rinse them in cold water in a colander, and combine them with all the other ingredients in a large bowl. Add the mayonnaise last. Put the potato salad in the refrigerator to chill for about an hour before serving. Dust the top with paprika.

For a creamier potato salad, melt a couple of tablespoons of butter into the potatoes when they are hot out of the pot and add a couple of tablespoons of sour cream to the salad.

Adjust ingredients proportionately for a larger batch.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!