A Potato Salad For Haters of Potato Salad

I don't like potato salad. I sort of want to for some reason, but I just don't.

'Round these parts, when someone refers to "potato salad", they are talking about that God-forsaken yellow stuff with hardboiled eggs, mayo, mustard and (dare I say it)....sweet pickle relish. (Gag). This is NOT the stuff that I want to like. I'd rather have a double espresso with Richard Simmons on a day that he ran out of Ritalin than eat this stuff. But...I have tried to make every type of potato salad under the sun in search of one that just rocked my face off. I like potatoes and I like all types of salads, so why can I never achieve a successful marriage of the two? This stinkin' concoction has become my nemesis.

I have made potato salads with vinaigrettes of every flavor. I have used every herb combination possible. I have tried spicy ones and earthy ones, tangy ones, and smoky ones, big ones, small ones, short ones, tall ones. Oh- wait...that's Dr. Suess. You get the point. Every time I try a recipe for some type of potato salad that looks great on paper, I'm always underwhelmed.

Until now. I recently saw a recipe in Cooking Light for something that I think they called "Dijon Vegetable Bake" (or something like that). Over the summer I have made some type of vegetable dish for our lunch nearly every day and I was starting to run out of creativity for the old veggies. I feel like I have steamed, roasted, braised, pureed, and sauteed veggies every way humanly possible. This recipe was for a roasted potato dish that was tossed with country style dijon, onions, olives, and cherry tomatoes and then baked with bread crumbs on top. A little bit boring, but a great concept, I thought.

I made it one night for dinner and jazzed it up just a bit. I added some capers, garlic, thyme, fresh parsely, and lemon zest. It was pretty tasty, but needed a bit more dressing in my opinion. You can see in this picture, that it was a bit on the dry side.

The next day, I tossed the leftovers with some extra dressing and a few more olives and tomatoes. Before I even realized it, I was eating potato salad. A delicious potato salad. And it was then, that I had a revelation. Ah-ha! Roasting the potatoes was the key. I think the reason that other potato salads sounded good but didn't taste good was because of a "preparation issue" and not an "ingredient issue". It was the texture that always threw me off. The boiled potatoes, once dressed, and then sometimes refrigerated, had a mealy texture that always made me feel like I was eating "THE" potato salad (the yellow one). I just couldn't get past that association. Now I'm looking forward to going through my cookbooks and giving every potato salad recipe that I've ever torn out of a magazine another shot.

Yesterday I was able to experiment with this dish again, as I needed something to take to a Labor Day party. My fingers were crossed. I did roast the potatoes, along with the onions, tomatoes, and olives, and then tossed everything with the country style dijon dressing. It was a hit! It's important to use Yukon Gold Potatoes...they have a really nice "waxiness" that holds up well in this application. Their flavor is delicious and they're not too starchy.

This dish can be made a day in advance, but it is really best served slightly warm, or at least at room temperature. Don't serve it cold. It would be a great side dish for not only cookouts, but for any ol' weeknight dinner. It does have strong Mediterranean flavors, so make sure you serve it with something that can handle that.

***PLEASE NOTE- THIS RECIPE IS FOR A CROWD. THIS SERVES ABOUT 15-20 PEOPLE. I WOULD MAKE A HALF VERSION IF YOU'RE HAVING IT AT HOME BECAUSE ANY LEFTOVERS YOU HAVE WILL KEEP VERY WELL.

Mediterranean Potato Salad

• 5 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
  
• 1 large (or 2 medium) yellow onions, peeled, halved, and then sliced


• 1/2 cup extra light olive oil


• 1/3 cup country style dijon mustard


• zest of 1 lemon


• juice of 1 lemon


• 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped


• 2 tsp fresh thyme


• 3 large cloves garlic, minced


• 3 tbsp. capers, drained


• salt and black pepper to taste


• 1 1/4 cups kalamata olives, pitted and drained


• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash, peel, and cut potatoes into 1" cubes. Toss potatoes with sliced onions and 1/4 cup olive oil, reserving the remaining oil for later. Spread onto baking sheets (you will need to use 2 baking sheets if making this large recipe). Bake for about 35-45 minutes, or until potatoes are getting lightly browned. Remove from oven, add olives and tomatoes, toss gently, and return to oven, baking for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool just slightly (for about 4 or 5 minutes). In a seperate large bowl, whisk together the other 1/4 cup of olive oil with the mustard, lemon zest, lemon juice, parsely, thyme, and garlic. Gently stir in capers. Add potato mixture to dressing and gently toss to coat. Salt and pepper to taste.