Beyond

I hope I never lose my sense of wonder. If that makes me naive, then so be it.

Tuesday 14 June 2011

daring cooks, june

Summer is here, and this month's cooking challenge was one that for our family is closely tied to warm days of eating outside, enjoying food off the grill: potato salad. The one I make and grew up with is a creamy combination of potato, egg, onion, and mayo, along with a few other flavourings. The twist on this challenge, though, was to make it healthy.


Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

While there are lots of different takes on potato salad around the world, including hot ones with oil dressings, and many kinds of potatoes to choose from, I opted to take our family fave and make a lighter version.

Here's what I came up with.
For the salad:
2 1/2 lbs red potatoes, skins on
1 med red onion, chopped
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped 
1/2 c diced red pepper

For the dressing:
1c plain low-fat yogurt
1T prepared mustard
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
1/2 t fresh dill, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt just to taste

Boil potatoes in salted water just until tender. Cool, cube, and combine with all vegetables. Mix the dressing ingredients until smooth and stir to coat the salad. Chill for a few hours or overnight.

It was simple, and we all enjoyed it. While I missed some of the mayonnaise-type flavour, this was a nice change. The dressing was creamy and had a pleasant tang to it and - surprise of surprises! - my yogurt-hating hubby really enjoyed it and said I should keep making it that way. So that, in and of itself, spoke volumes for the taste. It's a snap to make and will be one we enjoy a few more times this summer.


2 comments:

Andy said...

Your salad sounds very yummy!

Heather T said...

Mmmm, I think I might try it.