Food Friday: A new look at an old summer favorite—Potato Salad

My head is so far into summer that I can barely emerge long enough to do things like, oh, think past my next swim. Even the fun stuff, like making playdates, or figuring out our next adventure seems like a little too much work some days—it’s been so great just to let the day happen, as least as much as I can.

As you can imagine, I haven’t felt too imaginative in the dinner department, either, but inspiration is beckoning, with summer’s best produce beginning to file into the kitchen.

Like yesterday, when Will and Henry picked and ate the first two ripe cherry tomatoes from the garden, and I knew it was time to post (and make) this twist on potato salad. We had this at a Memorial Day party, and immediately hunted down the recipe. I’ve made it once before, but as soon as I gather a big enough handful of cherry tomatoes from the garden (when H&W aren’t looking!), I’m all over this recipe again.

Note: This recipe is best made and eaten on the same day. The leftovers were a wan, watery version of the original robust salad.

P.S. I’d love to hear what YOU do with potato salad at your house, and see if you can top this one. It won’t be easy, of course, this one has BACON and AVOCADOS. Mmmm…

Potato Salad with Cherry Tomatoes, Bacon and Avocado

5 pounds small red potatoes (I probably used more like 3-4 pounds)

1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled (used the full pound, of course)

3 small avocados (I think mine were medium to large, but I’m not complaining about extra avocado)

6 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered (I halved mine, and used about 2 cups, was still good)

12 scallions, sliced thin (had no scallions and used red onion instead, minced finely)

12 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil or to taste

6 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

12 Tablespoons olive oil (I used a super green and fruity one)

salt and pepper to taste

In a steamer set over boiling water, steam the potatoes, cut into one-inch pieces, covered for 8-10 minutes or until tender, then let cool. (I confess, I didn’t do this, but just boiled them. I’ll try this next time, though they were fine with the boiling method.)

In a serving bowl, combine the potatoes, bacon, tomatoes and the avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into half-inch chunks. Add in the scallions and basil.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper, and pour the dressing over the potato mixture. Toss the salad gently until well combined.

Serve warm or chilled, delicious both ways!

OKAY READERS, YOUR TURN

No need for me to be the only one having all this food fun. And in fact, you’d eat a whole lot better if there were some more cooks posting their favorites each week. I happen to know of many WAY more accomplished cooks/foodies out there. Some of you are already writing about your food adventures on Fridays, and my mouth is watering at the thought of reading your food contributions.

So let’s do this—if you’ve got a recipe to share, do it on your blog next Friday and leave a link to your blog in the comments here at Food Fridays. And if you don’t have a blog, put the whole recipe in the comments.

I’ll even throw out a topic for next week: summer salads. Bring on your summer best for next Friday!

Thank you to Eileen Doolittle for this delicious recipe!