Curried Potato Salad

Potato salad is one of America's summer staple food. But face it, too many times, potato salad is bland or one-note or uninteresting. Most of them use mayo or sour cream as their bases, which is more fat than any of us need.

A couple years ago, a local restaurant gave me the recipe for their creamy curry sauce. It's excellent, but not as versatile or healthy as I like. So I started playing with it (of course).

Yogurt is a common (and quite yummy) substitute for mayo. I buy a (relatively) local creamery's yogurt - Tillamook. The creamery is situated near the town of Tillamook on the Oregon coast. I am partial to their products, which I feel are far superior to nearly all the larger regional brands -- and head and shoulders above the national ones. But this is all beside the point.

My point is that low-fat yogurt, from any source, is healthier than mayo. It has loads of nutrients, especially vitamin D and calcium.

Curry Potato Salad

3-4 cups of diced potatoes
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 cup celery

Curry Dressing

1-1/2 cups plain, low-fat yogurt
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Blend well by hand or with a food processor.

Steam the potatoes until done, but firm. Cool.

Once the potatoes are cool, mix the onions, celery, and potatoes. Add the curry dressing 1/2 to 1 cup at at a time, until everything is coated. Do not add too much dressing (you probably won't use all of it). Enjoy!

I prefer the waxy potato varieties (red, Yukon gold, white) to the mealier russets. I think it nicely highlights the creaminess of the entire dish. The celery and onion provide a nice crunchy counterpoint to the unctuous creamy conspiracy of the potatoes and sauce. One of my next experiments with this dish is deciding what other vegetables to include - carrots and broccoli are definitely contenders.

I made the salad the night before I served it. The flavors tend to marry and intensify overnight, especially as the potatoes absorb some of the curry flavor.

Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette

Last week, I made an interesting sauce for over steamed broccoli and carrots. The sauce was simple: balsamic vinegar and orange zest. All weekend long, all I could think of was how good that sauce was and how awesome it would be over fresh greens and some fruit. So that's what I did!

I will warn you now that this dressing isn't for everyone. My partner isn't too fond of it; she finds balsamic vinegar too strongly flavored.

Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 cup dark balsamic vinegar
zest of 2 oranges
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Soak zest in vinegar for about an hour. Strain.

Whisk in oil slowly until blended.

I served it over fresh greens with pieces of apples, oranges, pears, and nectarines and several blueberries and raspberries. The dressing was wonderfully bright and tangy and set off the sweetness of the fruit nicely while providing a nice little savory tone to the salad.

Bean Salad

The tenor of all my other posts suggests that I have all the time in the world to cook. I wish! Unfortunately, I work, I volunteer, and I try to have a social life. Sometimes that leaves me wishing I had another 24 hours in the day.

A few weeks ago, I went gaming at a friend's house. Game nights were potluck and I didn't have much time (or energy) to make something wonderful. I looked in my cupboard and realized that I didn't have much besides canned beans. So I decided to make a really quick bean salad.

Bean Salad

1 15 oz can of cut green beans
1 15 oz can of dark red kidney beans
1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
1 15 oz can of black beans
1 cup of lentils (rehydrated and cooked)
1/2 of a large onion, minced
5-6 crimini mushrooms sliced
3 tablespoons of minced garlic
4-5 oz carrots, chopped
4-5 tablespoons capers
1 to 1-1/2 cups of grated romano cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup of salad dressing (I used Auntie Anne's Sesame and SDrain hittake dressing)

Hydrate and cool lentils.
Roast the garlic for 15-20 minutes in a small ramekin or baking dish.
Drain and rinse the beans.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes to half an hour before serving.

This quick and easy bean salad turned out really, really good! The lentils gave the salad a really nice nuttiness that complimented the softness of the beans. I think it took all of half an hour to make.