Pinched Potato Salad

Summer weather. We don't get a lot of what most people would call "summer weather" over here in our little corner of the Bay area. It rarely gets above 75 here, and even then just for a day or two. So, when we do get some really warm days, I'm all about potato salad.

Last week, it was 75 degrees by 9am, and nearing 80 by noon. I was so excited! I was planning a Salade Niçoise for dinner, the perfect summer weather meal, and I wanted a spoonful of potato salad on the side of the plate, so while it was still 75, I started cooking the spuds.

It only took a few minutes to cook these thumb-sized white, yellow and purple potatoes to tenderness - none was thicker than an inch to begin with. I drained them and left them to cool slightly while I made a killer vinaigrette of pressed garlic, thyme, chopped green onion, salt, pepper, Meyer lemon juice and olive oil.  Whisk, whisk in a bowl big enough to hold the salad and it's ready to add the potatoes.

As I cut each warm potato into bite-sized pieces, I gave it a little pinch. The pinch breaks the solidity of the spuds, forming crevices into which a little more of the vinaigrette will seep. More crevices = more flavor.

Toss, toss and it's ready for the fridge. Later in the day, when we were hungry and it had absorbed all that lemony goodness, it was plated with some cold poached salmon, cold asparagus, halved hardboiled eggs (did those while it was still cool, too), picholine olives, and cornichons, all on a bed of lettuce. 

Try pinching your potatoes next time you make a salad. It's okay - they don't yelp.