I chose to believe it's a good sign if dinner can get a song stuck in your head, and I was humming along to 'Solid Potato Salad' all of last night, maddening friends, family and food inspector cat in the process.
Which is to say, if you haven't seen The Ross Sisters' '
Solid Potato Salad' you're missing out. They're a triple threat - singing, dancing, contorting. True performers, those gals.
You know what else is a solid performer (see what I did there)? This potato salad, which comes to you via Joy the Baker. It's summer in the US right now, which means potato salad and berries and fresh salad greens and other things that make me want to punch the northern hemisphere with bitterness because it is
so freaking cold all the time ohmigod you guys, but it looked like a versatile enough recipe. Some potatoes, some yoghurt, and my best beloved, the bagged, pre-washed salad mix.
Oh, pre-washed salad mix, how I love thee, in all your ease and convenience. You're really not supposed to go for the bagged spinach at Safeway, but I always have a bag in the fridge for those times when I feel as though I'm getting scurvy and need a green vegetable. Eggs and spinach? Easy. Throw some spinach in with that pasta sauce? That sounds delightful, thank you. Spinach on toast? With garlic? Hell-ooo, dinner. Reckon that macaroni cheese needs a bit of salad on the side so Rosemary Stanton doesn't haunt your dreams? A bit of lemon juice and you are good to go, my friend.
So I kept the potatoes and the herby, yoghurty vinaigrette, which was a great way to use up some leftover, rather sad looking herbs from the vegetable crisper. I also kept the jarred artichoke hearts, because everything could use more pickle, in my opinion. Joy added wild rice and blueberries; I just cooked up some of the leftover black eyed peas from last week's cassoulet. I also stirred everything together while it was still warm, making this a warm wintry solid potato salad rather than a summer one. It's the kind of salad you can concoct out of leftovers and things loitering around in the cupboard, and it was, well, pretty gosh darned solid if I do say so myself.
Versatile potato salad
Via Joy the Baker. Serves 2-3
Around 400g of small potatoes - I used little tubular golden ones. I don't know what they're called. Kipfler, I want to say? Either way, use your potato discretion
1/2 cup dried black eyed peas, or a tin of chickpeas, or a quantity of cooked rice, or whatever grain/legume you wish to use
A bag of spinach, or similar baby salad mixture, though the sweetness of spinach is really lovely here
A jar of artichoke hearts
1 heaped tsp dijon mustard
1 heaped tsp honey
Scant 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup yoghurt
Half a bunch chopped chives
Half a bunch chopped tarragon (you can of course use any herbs you have around - this is simply what I used)
Rinse and pick over the black eyed peas, then put them in a small pan with a generous grind of pepper and a couple of cloves. Cover with water and bring to the boil, then reduce heat and cook until tender and some of the skins have sloughed off. In the meantime, put the potatoes in a large pan and cover with water. I like to add some aromatics for flavour - in this case a couple of bay leaves and a stalk of thyme - but plain old salted water is more than fine. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Cook potatoes until a sharp knife can be inserted with ease.
Meanwhile, whisk together honey, mustard and vinegar in a large bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper, then whisk in yoghurt, followed by herbs. Drain the potatoes and allow them until they are warm but cool enough to handle. I like to tear potatoes into pieces for potato salad - it gives more dressing-absorbing surface area - but you can cut them if you want a neat salad. Drain your jar of artichoke hearts and throw them in, followed by the drained black eyed peas/grain/other legume. Add the bagged spinach and toss with tongs. The heat from the potatoes and black eyed peas will wilt the spinach a little, but that's what we're after. Serve immediately.