Classic Potato Salad with Kick and Crunch

Posted by Anna on July 9, 2012 · 2 Comments 

This recipe is one of our favorites. It is a novel take on the classic potato salad, yet it avoids being too creamy, oily or too heavy. It relies on the cooked leak, vinegar and the whole grain mustard for the flavor (the kick) and the celery to add a little crunch.

The idea stems from a recipe from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day – a cookbook which, as I have mentioned elsewhere, is one of our favorites. Her version of this salad is loaded with tons of ingredients including cucumber, tofu and green beans. It is truly great dish.

In this week’s post, we make a variation of this dish, but with fewer ingredients. We served this as a side to a chicken schnitzel (recipe to come) and wanted something a little more simple.

Recipe

Classic Potato Salad with Kick and Crunch

Serves 4 as a side dish

800 grams of potatoes (approximately 6 medium sized potatoes)

6 large stalks of celery, chopped

1 leek, chopped

1.5 tablespoon whole grain mustard

1.5 tablespoon good quality red wine vinegar

Olive Oil

1/4 teaspoon of agave nectar

Salt

Pepper

Optional: fresh dill

Boil the potatoes until soft – approximately 10 – 15 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes.

At the same time as the potatoes are cooking, heat some olive oil in a pan over low-medium heat. Add the chopped leek, and sautee until the leek is soft. Make sure the pan is not too hot. You want them slow cooked.

Note: If you are going to add fresh dill, it is a good idea to add this to the leek while it is still in the pan to let the aroma really come out.

In a large mixing bowl, add the mustard, vinegar, a healthy splash of olive oil, some salt and the agave nectar. Mix all these together.

Add the chopped celery to the bowl. Once the potatoes are cooked, peel them and chop them into bite-sized pieces. Add them to the bowl and toss. Add the leek to the mix at the end.

Add more salt and vinegar as needed. Grind some fresh pepper over the salad. Serve as a side to meat or fish. Or if you are feeling peckish it is also pretty tasty alone.

Filed under Recipes, Sides · Tagged with cooked potatoes, food, Kick and crunch, leek salad, mustard seed dressing, potato salad, Side salad