Ladies and gentlemen, I have terrific news: my hunt for the quintessential potato salad is over.  I finally have a straightforward, unfussy potato salad recipe that makes my heart swoon (indeed, my heart is palpating from the mayo levels).  You probably had no idea that this was an important quest of mine but let me tell you, this search has been going on for quite some time.

I wanted a potato salad that had an ingredient list that was both short and uncomplicated and I wanted a potato salad that with one bite would transport me to a hot summer afternoon with wafts of grilled meat floating past my sunburned nose.  Luckily, last Saturday my friends hosted a day in the ‘burbs complete with a trip to a brewery, a dip in the pool, a barbecue and a potluck.  Upon my invitation I bought a two-pound bag of the smallest red potatoes I could find, put them on to boil and promptly forgot about them as I busied myself around my un-air conditioned house.  The skins burst, but the flesh was not too worse for the wear due to my inattention and the rest of the potato salad came together as the spuds cooled.

After everything was mixed together I put the finished salad into the refrigerator to cool (room temperature mayonnaise doesn’t usually do it for me) and waited anxiously to take my first bite.  About an hour later I pulled out the speckled salad and removed the plastic wrap to reveal one of the most perfectly balanced potato salads I had ever tasted.  The dressing to potato ratio is spot on, and the scallions and caraway seeds give some added crunch and texture.  At the barbecue potluck, everyone was so hot, tired and hungry that we all ate in silence, but I felt like victory was mine.  My version of the perfect potato salad had been found.

burg’s potato salad
adapted from A Homemade Life
yields about 8 servings

2 pounds red, waxy potatoes (as small as you can find them)
1 bunch scallions (about 8 green onions), thinly sliced
4 hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped/crumbled
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (to taste)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 prepared ranch dressing
2 teaspoons whole caraway seeds, lightly toasted
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped

Scrub the potatoes and add to a large pot of salted, boiling water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through and release easily when the tip of a knife is inserted. Drain the potatoes and let cool. When cool enough to handle, cut the potatoes into even cubes.

Meanwhile, in the bottom of a large serving bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, ranch dressing, caraway seeds and fresh dill. Taste for seasonings. Add the cooled potatoes, scallions and egg. Stir to coat the salad ingredients with the dressing. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Life has been, er, a little jam-packed lately.  Despite some lovely time off from my job I seem to go to sleep each evening wondering where the day went. Our Netflix movies sit unopened and there is an embarrassing amount of food quickly becoming less charming as it gets shoved into the back corners of the refrigerator.

Around lunchtime a couple of days ago I was gathering the house to leave and run a variety of tedious errands and I realized I was both hungry and willing to create something out of the bits and pieces remaining in my vegetable drawer.

My mom and I made our favorite coleslaw this year for our favorite dad on Father’s Day this year, and I still had plenty of cabbage in my vegetable drawer.  Having reached my mayonnaise quota last weekend with the other slaw, I thought about my favorite other slaws and a bright, crunchy, peanut slaw from a nearby restaurant, Bandera, immediately came to mind.  I did a cursory online search and realized that there are a few other Bandera peanut slaw lovers out there, too.  Bandera has yet to publish their recipe, but countless other folks have made their own attempts to recreate it at home.  This is my version.  Bandera usually serves their slaw alongside a hamburger or piece of roast chicken, but I just enjoyed it plain by the spoonful. Not too shabby for a last-minute, vegetable drawer salad.

peanut slaw
adapted from a slaw at Bandera
yields 4 servings

Note: Bandera’s version includes jicama, a vegetable I loathe.  Yes, it is nearly flavorless and adds a needed crunch, so if it doesn’t bother you as much as it bothers me, I would recommend adding a cup or two of julienned jicama.

For the dressing:
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
juice of 2 limes
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
salt and pepper

For the slaw:
1 head cabbage, thinly sliced
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno or serano chili, deseeded and minced (optional)
1/2 cup peanuts, lightly toasted and cooled

In a large serving bowl add all of the ingredients for the dressing and stir together until the sugar is dissolved and the ingredients are well mixed. Taste for seasonings — this may be too vinegary for your taste. If so, add extra sugar or lime juice.

Add the cabbage, scallions, cilantro, mined chili. Stir to combine and coat with the dressing in the bottom of the bowl. If not eating right away, cover and refrigerate. Just before serving add the peanuts and toss.

Apparently, I enjoy making and serving colorful salads. Who needs to live in a monochromatic food world, anyway? Not me, I suppose.

A few days ago, I worked from the end of the meal forward with these beauties to share one of my favorite, go-to casual dinner party meals.  People, start inviting your friends over for dinner! The task may seem daunting but is totally do-able and worth every bit of effort. I find that planning a simple meal of some of your best dishes yields success every time.

Today I have the once humble panzanella to share with you.  Panzanella is traditionally a Florentine salad made from stale bread and tomatoes with a few onions occasionally tossed in for extra bite and flavor.  While I’m not one to shy away from a simple recipe, it seems foolish not to exploit the picture-perfect produce starting to show up everywhere in Sacramento these days. Cucumber, bell peppers, capers and onion brighten this dish with color, as does the vinaigrette with tang from the Dijon and heat from one clove of garlic.

Preparing panzanella for a dinner party kills two birds with one stone — two elements of the meal, that is.  Your salad/vegetable course and bread basket come together in one large salad bowl.  Someone always compliments the colors of the salad, and sneaking in capers is a good way to introduce squeamish eaters to their briny goodness (you can always serve them in a small bowl on the side, too).  But my favorite part?  Everything can be prepared ahead of time.  The vinaigrette can be mixed days before and stored in the refrigerator, the vegetables chopped up to a day before and the bread cubes can be prepared several hours before everyone arrives.  Each element can be stored separately and mixed together at the last minute, but I like to let all of the ingredients soak together in the bowl for about 30 minutes before serving in order to let the flavors meld and take some of the crunch out of the croutons. Serving such a hearty salad/side dish means that I can get away with one other course — some sort of meat or poultry.  Part three of how to cook a simple dinner party meal coming in my next post, plus some of my favorite hints and tips to make everything go smoothly.

panzanella
adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties!
yields 12 servings

For the salad:
3T olive oil
1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6c)
1t kosher salt
2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 red onion, cut in 1/2 and thinly sliced
20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3T capers, drained

For the vinaigrette:
1t finely minced garlic
1/2t Dijon mustard
3T Champagne vinegar
1/2c olive oil
1/2t kosher salt
1/4t freshly ground black pepper

Preheat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil.  Once hot add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.

For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients together.

In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette (I only needed half of the vinaigrette). Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

Saturdays are pretty great, aren’t they? As someone who is devoted to her to do lists Saturday mornings are the perfect opportunity to feel a strong sense of accomplishment.  Finally remove all of those dust bunnies from every corner of the apartment? Done. Laundry? Washed, fluffed and folded.  Tomato plants? Happily establishing their roots in the bright afternoon sun.  Which reminds me — I should get out there and water them before they wilt to a premature death.

Saturday is also the perfect time to spend more than five minutes making a salad.  My usual weeknight salad M.O. includes rummaging through the vegetable crisper drawer, chopping up whatever I find, throwing in some lettuce leaves and tossing everything together with a mustard-based salad dressing.  Ah, but Saturday? Saturday affords me enough time to make a composed salad made up of four elements (freshly prepared artichoke hearts, roasted asparagus, roasted almonds and homemade grapefruit salad dressing). Such a complicated recipe would normally sour my mood but this afternoon I had more than enough time to putz around my kitchen and create a truly wonderful salad (read: dirty every surface and dish in sight).

I adore artichokes.  They might be my favorite part of the spring season (well, that and feeling finally being returned to my fingers and toes).  Making this recipe is just the opportunity you have been waiting for to practice your artichoke heart preparation skills. Scary at first, but like most challenges in life gets much easier with practice.  This salad recipe also includes roasted asparagus and almonds then brightens everything up with a dressing made from reduced grapefruit juice, lemon juice, balsamic and a tiny bit of Dijon mustard. If each component is stored separately, the salad would keep well for a day or two.  However, I could not wait that long and ate pretty much all of it in one sitting. Looking for a way to put springtime on your plate? This artichoke and asparagus salad is exactly what you have been waiting for.

artichokes and asparagus with almonds and grapefruit dressing
adapted from The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook
yields 4 servings (Note: The photos above show the salad when I cut the recipe in half.  Yours should look more plentiful on the platter).

For the artichokes:
4 artichokes
1 lemon
1 medium yellow onion, chopped (optional)
1 small carrot, roughly chopped (optional)
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped (optional)
1 bay leaf
1T kosher salt

For the almonds:
1/2c Marcona almonds
OR

1/2c unblanched almonds
1t light oil
salt and pepper

For the asparagus:
about 8 asparagus spears, ends removed
1T light oil
1t fresh thyme
salt and pepper

For the grapefruit dressing:
1 ruby red grapefruit, juiced
1T golden (or white) balsamic vinegar (I used the regular red balsamic vinegar and things turned out just fine)
1/2t Dijon mustard
juice of 1/2 lemon
3/4t Kosher salt or more to taste
1/4t pepper or more to taste
6T light oil

For the salad:
salt and pepper
2 generous handfuls of baby greens

Fill a large pot with water. Squeeze the juice of one lemon into the water, and add the rest of the lemon (this will stop the artichokes from turning brown). Add the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf and salt. Prepare the artichokes so that only the stem and heart remain and immediately plunge into the lemon water. (If you have never done this before get out your sharpest knife, view this tutorial and have at the artichokes.) Put a heavy plate over the artichokes to keep them submerged as they cook. Bring the water to a strong simmer (think big bubbles) and cook for about 30 minutes until a paring knife easily pierces the artichoke flesh. Drain the artichokes, discard the cooking water and aromatics, and let cool.

If you are using Marcona almonds, chop them into fairly large pieces and set aside. If you are not using Marcona almonds, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Move an oven rack to the center position. On a baking sheet, toss the whole almonds with the oil, salt and pepper. Roast the almonds for 12 minutes until they start to become golden.* Let the almonds cool, then roughly chop. Set aside.

Turn up the heat to 400 degrees. Place the asparagus on a baking sheet and toss with the oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes (if your spears are very thin they may take less time). Let the asparagus cool to room temperature.

While the asparagus is roasting, add the grapefruit juice to a small saucepan. Reduce the juice until you have about 1 tablespoon of liquid — it will be very syrupy. In the saucepan whisk together the vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the oil in a slow stream, whisking quickly to emulsify the dressing. Taste for seasonings and add more salt or pepper if necessary.

Just before serving, toss the salad leaves with a small amount of dressing and arrange on a platter. Once the artichokes are cooled, cut in half through the stem. Remove the fibrous center from each half with a spoon, making sure to leave the heart intact. Toss the asparagus and artichokes in the dressing, and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the asparagus and artichokes atop the salad leaves. Garnish with the chopped almonds and serve immediately.

*Every oven varies, and your almonds may cook much quicker. Check them often and pay attention to the smell. Your nose will know when they are ready.

Dinner usually does not feel right without a salad.  Needless to say, I have shared more than a few favorites with you here and with spring and summer produce popping up at the grocery store and farmers’ market chances are good that in the coming months I will not lack inspiration to create new salads.

Rhubarb, asparagus and mangoes are already readily available but I still feel like the best is yet to come (produce and otherwise).  I am still feeling a little out of sorts — what with the engagement, a busy week followed by a busy weekend, suitcases that still need to be unpacked (oh the shame!) and a few dust bunnies that need to find their way to the trashcan.  Aside from buying milk for my coffee and cheddar and sliced sourdough for grilled cheese sandwiches I have not spent much time at the market this month.  Late last week I had a few free minutes and I wandered around my local store searching the aisles for inspiration.  Lo! and behold were a mountain of perfect cucumbers — just the right shade of green at just the right price.  I bought three.  Initially I planned to chop them into small pieces and toss with a thick dressing of yogurt, lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper but that felt too predictable.  Instead I turned to the Ottolenghi cookbook which had the most intriguing way to serve cucumbers — with a sweet and tangy dressing, spicy chilies and crunch little poppy seeds.

I ate half of this salad with dinner then ate the rest the next day as an afternoon snack.  The overnight soak in the dressing softened the cucumbers somewhat — but they did not lose all of their crunch.  The tang from the vinegar slightly mellowed and yielded to the sweetness in the dressing provided by the sugar, with each bite of the salad beginning to taste slight like a pickling brine — a delicious turn of events if that is your kind of thing.

cucumber and poppy seed salad
adapted from Ottolenghi
yields 4 servings

6 small or 2-3 large cucumbers
2 mild red chilies, thinly sliced
3T roughly chopped cilantro
2oz white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
4oz mild vegetable oil, like sunflower
2T poppy seeds
2T sugar (use finely granulated if you have it)
salt and pepper

Slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Slice each half into half moons, on the diagonal if you are feeling fancy.

In a large bowl, mix together the cucumbers, chilies and cilantro. Whisk the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl to make the dressing. If you are using regular, granulated sugar, make sure to whisk long enough for the sugar to dissolve. Taste for seasonings and pour most of the dressing over the vegetables. Serve at room temperature.

If you are not serving this immediately, be sure to drain some of the liquid before serving.