Some Potato Salads of YUM!

We're seeing a good bunch of veggies fresh from Yakima, which is half-way across the state, and has different weather entirely, so they manage to harvest earlier than we do here near the Puget Sound. Close enough for me though, I'm enjoying all the fresh summer produce I can get my hands on!!

I'm all about potato salad this week and have made it three times already. I'll post both recipes. I'll have to tell you, I LOVE radishes in my potato salad, if you're not a fan, leave them out...

Here's my newest favorite. I LOVE the fresh veggies! I got sort-of an approximate idea from our local CSA's recipe flyer.

Farmer's Market Potato Salad

1 cup raw, fresh green beans, cut in 1-inch lengths
1 lb. whole sm. red potatoes

3/4 cup small cubed smoked tofu

3/4 c. sliced red onion

1/3 c. coarsely chopped green onion

3/4 c. thinly sliced radishes

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh (NOT dried!) parsley

1/2 cup chopped red peppers

Dressing:

1 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1/8 tsp. ground red pepper AND black pepper

Dash of salt

2 Tablespoons Vegenaise

Make Dressing:

Mix well (I use my food processor) and refrigerate.

Salad: Cook beans until just done (they should be firm and retain their bright green color).

Drain and cool.

Quarter potatoes. Add potatoes to boiling salted water and cook until done but still firm. Drain and put into large bowl.
Add remaining ingredients to bowl (except radishes) and chill.

Do not toss until potatoes are well chilled. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight.

Pour dressing over salad 2 hours before serving and toss to coat. Before serving or transporting, stir in radishes.

And here's my favorite basic, go-to potato salad. Everyone loves this and it's SOO simple!!

Creamy Radish-and-Potato Salad

3 lbs. red potatoes, scrubbed

1/2 cup thinly sliced red radishes
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 cup Vegenaise (or other vegan mayo)

1/2 cup Tofutti Sour Cream (or other vegan sour cream)
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Cut potatoes into 1 inch chunks. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain potatoes.

Toss hot potatoes with radishes and onions. Cool to room temperature.

Add in the Vegenaise, sour cream, mustard, salt and pepper, stirring gently. When potatoes cool down to room temperature, add in dill. Taste and adjust seasoning. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving, garnish with dill and fresh cracked black pepper.

Purslane Potato Salad

I did a little happy dance when I finally found purslane at the Farmers Market this weekend! (My kids thought I was insane; Well, I am, but that's another post entirely).

My wonderful and always-knowledgeable friend Froggy got me turned onto the stuff. OK, he grew some last summer and even though I never got to sample his gardening skills, he impressed me with the nutritional benefits and all, so I'd been dying to try it!

First of all, yes, I know, I know... purslane is a weed! The most common weed in the United States in fact. It supposedly grows EVERYWHERE from Alaska to Death Valley! But evidently not in MY back yard. Yet.

Weed or not, it's suddenly cropping up in upscale restaurants, trendy markets and produce stands - another new "Superfood" if you will. (Excellent post here by fellow blogger Bazu on Superfood trends - love it, LOVE it!!)

Anyway. I digress.

Purslane has been eaten as a vegetable and used as a medicinal herb in many other countries for centuries. It's not a "new" food, folks!

A couple historical notes I found interesting (because I'm such a foodie-history-geek that way):

-- In England in the seventeenth century, the cooks of Charles II were required to add its leaves to all salads to help the king with his well known digestive ailments.

-- An 18th century pharmacology list from Scotland recommends it "...to cool heat in the liver and be excellent for hot agues, all paines in the head, want of sleep or the frenzy, haemorrhages and to ward off evil."

-- The ancient Greek physician and botanist Dioscorides recognized its medicinal powers as anti-inflammatory and analgesic as well as soothing to the digestion. He also is quoted as saying that "it reduces the desire to fornicate". Hmmmmmm....

OK, besides all that utterly FASCINATING information - we now know purslane is high in essential fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6, pectin (known to lower cholesterol), fiber, antioxidants (protection from free radicals that damage & destroy healthy cells), and coenzyme Q10. To name a few.

Pretty good stuff, huh?

So what does it taste like? I guess like slightly "lemony" spinach, but not as tangy as online reports seemed to indicate it would be.

We really liked it raw, though there's a lot of recipes for cooking it too. I wonder if the nutritional benefits would diminish if cooked? No matter, I had a ton of ideas for using it, but ended up putting it in a basic potato salad.

Even though the picture looks like potato goo, trust me, it was incredible! I won't want potato salad any other way from now on!

Purslane Potato Salad

4 large Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes

1 cup of Vegannaise
1 cup celery, sliced thin
1/2 red onion, diced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (I don't like "yellow" potato salad so I use less!)

6 radishes, sliced

1 cup coarsely chopped purslane, leaves and tender stems

3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

3 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill

Peel (often I don't peel them) , cube, and boil potatoes until soft and fork tender.

Drain and let cool. Put potatoes in a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.

Mix well, taste and adjust salt and pepper if necessary.

Chill and serve. The flavors blend and taste best if chilled over night.