Healthier Potato Salad

Hope you guys are enjoying your summer. It’s the season to be outdoors and enjoy your family and friends over a cookout or barbecue. Such gatherings also call for plenty of side dishes or potluck friendly dishes. When we lived in Alabama, a bowl of traditional chilled potato salad with chopped hard boiled eggs mixed in was sure to make an appearance at a grilling party. This salad is refreshing and goes really well with grilled meats or barbecue.

The potato salad is traditionally made with mayonnaise, which always makes me a little uneasy about consuming it, specially if it is hot outside and the food has been set out picnic style. The mayonnaise based salad, in my mind, becomes a food safety issue plus its not the healthiest of condiments…agreed or not?..:P. Oh yeah and Mr. little V. is allergic to eggs so that gave me another reason to try and make this recipe healthier, mayonnaise/egg free, with a lower risk of getting spoilt in the sun or in other words more picnic friendly.

Nutrition: To replace mayonnaise I used greek yogurt – it tastes good and is good for you. Its so high in protein that one serving of greek yogurt could meet 1/3rd of your daily protein intake. I have also tried this recipe with homemade yogurt , but there are few extra steps involved there and we will talk about them some other day. Deal. Potatoes are a great source of carbs and potassium and give your body a boost of energy.  Eggs – what can I say about eggs – you know it right? – another perfect source of protein – so easy and so versatile and so good! There are other goodies in this salad that are mostly good for you so here we go:

Ingredients:

Idaho/Russet potatoes – 4 medium

Eggs – 4

Chopped pickles – 1/4 cup

Chopped Chives – 2-3 tablespoons

Greek Yogurt – 1/4 cup

Whole grain mustard – 1 tablespoon

Honey mustard – 1 tablespoon

Pickle juice – 1 tablespoon

Salt – to taste

Black Pepper – to taste

Garlic powder – 1/4 teaspoon

Paprika/Cayenne pepper – 1/4 teaspoon

Sugar – 1 teaspoon

Method

Peel and boil the potatoes till fork tender. Let them cool down a little bit, transfer to a big mixing bowl, and then either chop them small or mash them with a fork, depending on your liking. In a saucepan boil the eggs in water for 12 minutes. Drain the hot water and add cold water to the eggs. Peel the eggs and chop them. I only used 1 yolk out of the three eggs as we are not big yolk fans around here. Totally your call. Add to the mixing bowl that has potatoes in it. To the same bowl add all otherthe remaining ingredients. Give a big mix. Give it a taste test and adjust the seasonings. Transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish with more chopped pickles and/or chives. Let the salad chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving. And if you don’t tell anyone that this is a lightened up/healthier version of a traditional potato salad, no one will ever know….Shhhh. Enjoy!!

Love – Vaishali.

Tools used

Sauce pans for boiling potatoes and eggs

Potato masher/fork

Knife and chopping board

Mixing bowl

Spatula