Summer of Salads #6: Classic American Potato Salad

 

We're halfway through our Summer of Salads series and I'm coming at you with a customizable recipe for Mark Bittman's Classic American Potato Salad! After all, it is almost the Forth of July and cookouts call for potato salad.

Mark Bittman's recipe comes from the infamous How To Cook Everything which is a real go to for me when I want to have a guideline recipe that I can tweak and make my own.

Bittman's Classic American Potato Salad recipe calls for 1-1/2 pounds waxy (new) potatoes to 1/2 cup mayo and 1/4 cup onions, salt and pepper. After that he gives you various different variations or mix-ins to try including: roasted red pepper, bacon, capers, pickles, relish, hard-boiled eggs, peas, cheese, etc.

I chose to go with some add-in's that my mom always used which was: 2 tablespoons of sweet relish, 4 hard-boiled eggs (two mixed into the salad and two for garnish), paprika, extra onion, 1 teaspoon of  Dijon mustard, and about 1 teaspoon of celery seed. 

The potato salad turned out delicious and I believe this will be my new go-to! 

Happy 4th of July to all who celebrate!

 Classic American Potato Salad

Recipe adapted from How To Cook Everything

by Mark Bittman

Makes 4 - 6 servings

1-1/2 pounds waxy potatoes, such as red new potatoes

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

1/4 cup minced onion

Mayonnaise to taste (start with 1/2 cup)

salt and black pepper

4 hard-boiled eggs

1 teaspoon celery seed

1-2 tablespoons pickle relish or 1-2 pickles, chopped, to taste

paprika, for garnish

Notes: You can add whatever you like to this salad in order to make it your own. I added 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped into the potato salad and then 2 hard-boiled eggs slice in halve to the top of the salad for garnish. I also added 2 tablespoons of sweet pickle relish, 1 teaspoon celery seed, extra red onion, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and then I garnished the top of the potato salad with a dusting of paprika.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil; salt it. Peel potatoes if you like (or wash and scrub them well), then cut them into bite-size pieces; cook them in the water until tender but still firm and not at all mushy, 15 minutes or so. Drain, rinse in cold water for a minute, then drain again.

Toss the still-warm potatoes with the parsley and onion, Add mayonnaise until the mixture is as creamy as you like. Season with salt and pepper and then mix in your additions to your salad at this time: sweet relish, hard-boiled eggs, Dijon mustard, paprika, celery seeds, etc. Refrigerate the salad until ready to serve.