Spring Potato Salad

The perfect way to use up some of the hardboiled eggs you might have lying around this week.

If you spend any time on this site at all you know how much I love parsley–I use it as a salad green, I mix it with lemon, garlic and olive oil for a topping to most anything, . . . And you know the same is true for Greek yogurt. So combine the two with waxy yellow potatoes and hardboiled eggs and you get my new favorite potato salad. And if you have hard-boiled eggs a plenty thanks to the Easter Bunny, well then, put them to use here!

This is going to be a very short post since I’m off to the Slow Food USA National Congress and Board Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky tomorrow. You don’t hear much about my Slow Food work here but it has been occupying a lot of my time and energy and is as about as linked to Cook With What You Have as you can get, so I figure it’s worth a mention. . .

What is Slow Food? Imagine a world where the food we eat is good for us, good for farmers and workers, and good for the planet. Slow Food USA is building that world by bringing people together through the common language of food. Through local projects, educational events and campaigns in 150 countries, Slow Food volunteers are promoting environmentally friendly food production, teaching children how to grow and prepare their food, and working to make real food accessible to all.

And finally, for a look into a Cook With What You Have class check out this short profile. In a few weeks I’ll be able to post the actual cooking episodes on Food Farmer Earth this video will be introducing.

Spring Potato Salad with Creamy Parsley Dressing

The capers and lemon zest really round out this simple but hearty dish. And I am generous with the yogurt in the dressing. You want a really creamy salad so don’t skimp.

You can also use the dressing on roasted polenta or any kind of grains or beans that you’re serving at room temperature. It’s great with roasted veggies, in fish tacos . . .

Serves 4

1 ½ lbs. Yukon gold, red or other waxy, firm-fleshed potatoes (about 5-6 small-medium)
2-3 hardboiled eggs, roughly chopped
½ a big bunch of parsley
2 tablespoons of capers, rinsed
½ cup Greek or plain whole milk yogurt (or more, to taste)
1 small garlic clove, minced or preferably mashed (or pressed)
Zest of half a lemon
Juice of half a lemon (or a bit more)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper

Scrub the potatoes and boil them in their skins until tender. Drain and let cool. Peel if you’d like or skip this step (I usually skip it) and cut into bite-sized chunks. Mix all remaining ingredients (except the eggs) in a medium bowl. Taste the dressing to make sure it’s salt enough and has enough acidity. The capers add a bit of both and if you’ve mashed the garlic with some salt, go easy on the salt at first—though potatoes soak up a lot of salt. The dressing will be fairly thick. You can thin it out with a bit more olive oil or milk or cream or even a little water if you’d like. Mix the dressing carefully into the potatoes and finally add the chopped egg.