The potato salad that forgot the mayonnaise
Bright, herby and unbothered by a jar of anything beige.
At a Glance
Story
This is potato salad with the mayonnaise sent packing, which is precisely why it will not slump into a beige sulk the moment the sun finds it. Two things keep it honest. Reach for waxy potatoes, which hold their edges through the tossing rather than crumbling to mash, and dress them while they are still almost too hot to handle, because a warm potato drinks the lemon and oil clean to its centre while a cold one only wears it, damply, on the outside.
Ingredients
- 2 lb small waxy white or yellow potatoesroughly the same size
- 1 lemonjuiced (plus more for serving)
- 1 ½ tsp kosher saltplus more as needed
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup thinly sliced scallionswhite and light green parts, plus more for serving
- ¼ cup torn mint leavesplus more for serving
- ¼ tsp Turkish pepperAleppo-style, plus more for serving
Method
Made in the morning and left to sit out all day, this only deepens, so it is the rare salad that rewards you for getting ahead of it. Serves a crowd, or a small household for days.
- Put the whole unpeeled potatoes in a big pot with salted water to cover by an inch. Bring to a boil and cook until a knife slides in with no argument, 15 to 25 minutes depending on their size. Drain them.
- While they steam, whisk the lemon juice, salt and olive oil together in a bowl.
- The moment you can handle the potatoes, cut them into rough 1½-inch chunks and tip them, still hot, into a big bowl. Pour over the dressing and add the scallions, mint and Turkish pepper. Toss, and let it come down to room temperature while the flavours settle in.
- Just before serving, wake it back up: another squeeze of lemon, more scallion, more mint, a last pinch of chile. Any tender herb will stand in for the mint if you are out, cilantro, parsley, tarragon, though the mint is what makes people ask.
If you must chill it to keep it, bring it back to room temperature before serving. Cold flattens everything bright about it.
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