I love a good potato salad, it reminds me of summer picnics, American-style barbecues and outdoor lunches. Each time we make one, everyone loves it and I wonder why it doesn’t show up at our table more often. In the fact last week, while having a “not-another-quinoa-salad” day, the spud didn’t even cross my mind as I was looking through pages and pages of old recipe books – until my eyes fell on an old piece of paper where I had jotted down this precious recipe. It’s ridiculously easy to prepare, looks elegant, is as light as a potato salad can be, and oh-so good.
You can totally make it a few hours and up to a day before, as it will benefit from sitting with the fresh herb flavors and zesty dressing.
Ingredients
- 8 medium potatoes, peeled
- 20-30 mini asparagus (I use the little Thai ones that are availabe at most supermarkets here in Dubai but you can use 10 traditional ones)
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
- Salt, pepper
- 1/2 bunch parsley, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 bunch of dill, coarsely chopped
- 3 sprigs of fresh mint (around 15 leaves), coarsely chopped
- 2 cups rocket, coarsely chopped
- A handful of black olives, pitted (optional)
- 2 tbsp capers, drained (optional)
Instructions
- Steam the potatoes (I used a pressure cooker for around 20 minutes) or boil until tender but not overcooked or crumbly. Set aside to cool.
- Saute the asparagus in a pan on medium/high heat with 1 tbsp olive oil and a dash of salt, tossing gently for 30 seconds – 1 minute or until bright green. Set aside.
- Mix dressing: put mustard in a small bowl and slowly whisk in olive oil. The mixture should emulsify and result in a nice creamy dressing to which you can add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut the cooled potatoes into cubes
- In a large bowl, place a third of the potatoes, 1/3 of the herbs, a few generous tbps of the dressing, some asparagus and repeat until you have no more potatoes, herbs and asparagus. Gently toss the mixture, top with olives and capers. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- When serving, drizzle a bit more of the dressing and serve it alongside.
