No Mayonnaise Creamy Garlic Potato Salad
A summer barbecue staple, potato salad can be prepared in a delicious range of styles. Be it German style, dressed with a mustard vinaigrette, a mayo base with egg and pickle, packed with curry or loaded with veggies, everyone has a favorite. My mom and dad loved a New York Style since it was part of their childhood growing up in New York City and Long Island. That creamy and slightly sweet and sour mayonnaise- based sauce with sliced potatoes, onions and shredded carrots certainly is tasty, but I like mine creamy and garlicky. I do not like to use a lot of mayonnaise. So, after deciding that I needed to come up with a way to make my potato salad creamy without a spoonful of mayonnaise and that it needed to pack a great garlic punch, I turned to a staple in my kitchen, Greek yogurt.
To help you make this sauce smooth and creamy, using a mortar and pestle will achieve the best result.
Serves about 8-10 people
Ingredients
3 lbs whole red potatoes
Sauce:
1 3/4 cups of fat-free Greek yogurt
6-8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of chopped chives, plus more for garnishing
2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
4-5 plump cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper.
1/4 teaspoon paprika
extra salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Place potatoes, with their skins on, in a large pot of water,with one tablespoon of sea salt and bring to boil. Once boiling, turn down heat to let simmer until the potatoes are fork tender.(Cooking time can vary, depending on the size of the potato. It could take about 20 to 40 minutes to cook your potatoes, depending on their size.)
Drain the potatoes in a colander and rinse with cold water. Leave in the colander and let cool. (I leave the skins on for this recipe.)
Peal the garlic and mash with the back of a knife. Add the garlic and 1 tablespoon of coarse sea salt to the mortar. Mash with the pestle until you have a even smooth paste.
Add one to two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the garlic paste and mix until well incorporated. Continue to add the olive oil in this manner until all the oil is mixed in thoroughly . You will have a nice thick and smooth sauce, much like an Aioli. Add the Greek yogurt to the garlic paste and mix well. Stir in the chives, ground pepper.
Now that the potatoes are cooled cut them into bit sized chunks and put into a large bowl, pour the garlic sauce, chives and pepper on top and gently toss to coat. Add more salt and pepper to your taste. Before servicing, sprinkle the top with the remainder of the chives and paprika.
This recipe can be eaten right away, or made ahead of time. The flavors really blend well together when they have time to sit. No worries about loosing its creamy texture. This potato salad will last for a few days in the refrigerator and stay just as yummy as is. Enjoy!
Note:
The success of this recipe begins with how you make your sauce. I use a mortar and pestle to achieve the creamy consistency. If you don't have one of these I recommend picking one up. I found mine at a local Asian grocery store.
This potato salad is awesome by itself but the best part is that you can make this your own by adding in your favorite things. My suggestion is that you try this recipe once to taste it as is, then try it loaded up. Add bacon, scallion, cheddar, go all veggie or try it pesto style with chopped pine nuts, shredded basil and grated Parmesan.
I have only made this using a mortar and pestle, but you could also use an immersion blender, food processor, or just a sturdy bowl and spoon, but I cannot guarantee that you will get the same result.
Special Thanks:
The recipe for the garlic sauce was adapted from "Anissa's Garlic Sauce" in The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, by Nancy Harmon Jenkins. Thanks, Nancy! This yummy sauce has given me the inspiration to make many delicious recipes.
When you truly Live, Eat and Love well every day, wonderful things can happen.
Wishing You Joy, from the Fingerless Kitchen ~
Bryony Grealish
Syracuse, NY
