From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I love French bistro food. Coincidentally, I also love potatoes and potato salad. Over the years, I've moved away from a mayonnaise based salad and developed one that more closely resembles the salad that's served with sausage in French bistros. I've made some major changes to the recipe to accommodate the tastes of my family, so while it can no longer be called "French", I'm quite comfortable in labeling it "bistro". One of the tricks to making this type of salad is to dress on the potatoes while they are still warm. The potatoes should be lightly tossed with a seasoned dressing that coats, rather than drowns, the warm potatoes. The flavors of the dressing will not permeate cold potatoes, so if you decide to make this dish, plan accordingly. While a true French potato salad is flavored with wine and herbs, I use an oil and vinegar dressing and a handful of vegetables to season mine. The sweet pepper and parsley are used as much for the color they provide, as for the flavor they impart to the finished salad. I also use the microwave to cook my potatoes. I've found that it consistently produces potatoes that are tender, rather than mushy and water logged. They are easy to slice and the texture is perfect for a salad. I use small new potatoes for my salad and "nuke" them for 10 to 12 minutes before slicing them into a waiting bowl of dressing. While this salad can be served warm, I generally prefer to chill it before serving. It really is a delightful change from its calorie laden cousin. I think you enjoy this. Here's the recipe.
Bistro Potato Salad...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite
Ingredients:
Dressing
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup tarragon vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Salad
2 pounds (about 6 medium or 18 small) red potatoes, scrubbed
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
2 - 4 tablespoons parsley
Salt
Directions:
1) Combine oil, vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper in a shaker jar or blender and shake or pulse to combine. Pour into bottom of a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
2) Add water to just cover bottom of a large microwave container. Add potatoes in a single layer and cook, covered, on HIGH power for 10 to 12 minutes, or until potatoes can be easily stabbed with a fork. When cool enough to handle cut into 1/4-inch slices. Add potatoes, sweet peppers, shallots and parsley to bowl containing salad dressing. Toss lightly to combine. Adjust to taste with salt. Refrigerate. Yield: 6 servings.
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56 comments :
This sounds delicious. I have a lot of small potatoes that are white, red and purple. I'm going to use them, unpeeled, for a colorful presentation. I also have some sweet peppers that my Hungarian friend brought the seeds for from a long ago trip to Budapest. One of the farmers continues to grow them for our market. Can't wait to get it on our table!
Best,
Bonnie
Although I do like the mayo-version of potato salad, I've also made a salad using an oil & vinegar dressing and like it just as well. This sounds good, Mary.
I love potato salad too, but I normally eat the less healthy mayonnaise based one. Thank you for sharing this recipe - I will try it out one day, especially because it looks so light and seems to be not that difficult to make :).
Very nice recipe. I like to use baby Yukon Gold potatoes as well... love their color and texture.
Have a wonderful weekend.
:)
ButterYum
I must be Irish in my past life. I love any recipe that has potato as an ingredient! Glad to have found your blog, Mary! I've just lost some weight and trying to keep it off! Thanks for the recipe!
love this salad.looks refreshing and appetizing..like anything and everything with potatoes..yumm
There is nothing like a perfect simple potato salad... lovely recipe! As for me, I don't like the mayo version, it's way too gloppy!
I'm such a fan of light potato salads like this! Looks gorgeous.
Love this! Definitely a good change from the regular potato salads out there.
I'm with you about mayo...don't care for it on my potatoes like I used to...I prefer vinaigrettes.
This looks great...and simple to make.
Carmen
Very nice change of pace to the mayo ones, very pretty, thanks!
I love potato salad and really appreciate the microwave tip! I don't usually nuke potatoes because the outside overcooks and the inside remains chewy. But I think here, using the tiny potatoes and covering then, maybe a pinch of water?
well you have just described a potato salad typical for Serbia...French aren't the only ones that know how to cook..
My friend Mrs. McGill makes this for me all the time when I come to her house for lunch! I love it.
This looks beautifully simple!
This sounds wonderful, think I may add some French sausage to this and change it a bit more:) Diane
It looks like an easy and delicious potato salad!
Such a simple and a light salad!
Have a lovely day, Mary!
So simple but looks delicious.
Simple but delicious sounding! It is very reminiscent of a German Potato Salad :o)
That looks so good and sounds very tastey.
I'll try the microwave next time. Great tip. Thank you Mary!
I'll have to give this a try - we are potato lovers too.
Great colours and flavours.
It sounds really good.
Well done, Mary ♥
I haven't had a good potato salad in a long time. This has got me totally craving one!!
Sues
My husband begs for potato salad...go figure....
I'm not wild about it....
BUT this recipe I could really enjoy. I Will make it and he will ask why I didn't make regular potato salad...ha
Potatoes in any form gets my vote, but I love the simplicity of this recipe!!
Quite a simple, but very nice dressing, absolutely to my taste. To give the dressing to the warm potatoes is what we also do. From my mom I learned to first add some hot beef broth to the freshly sliced, still warm, potatoes, a quantity that is just sucked up, not to drown the poptatoes. It adds to the taste.
I wish you a good day, Eric
Potato has always been my ultimate barbecue salad Mary!!
Yes, there are those times when, even if you make your own, you just don't want the mayo in your taters. I love the sound of the flavors. Love yukon gold and baby reds!
Sould this sit to absorb the flavors or serve warm?
I love potato salad using new red potatoes, so this must be delicious. Can't wait to try it Mary...have a wonderful day!
Feel like having some rite now..very tempting salad..
I don't really eat potato salad because most of them come with mayo dressing. This is a nice change! Very refreshing!
Oh my, this Bistro Potato Salad is very interesting. I am a potato fan and I think this will work for me perfectly. If you wonhttp://www.foodista.com/recipe/JKPRM8W2/bistro-chickent mind I'd love to guide Foodista readers to your post. Just add the foodista widget to the end of this post so it will appear in the Foodista pages and it's all set, Thanks!
So simple and delicious!
Stunning dish! It absolutely makes all the difference to add the dressing while the potatoes are still warm. I love this type of European potato salad and I always make my 'patatas bravas' using this method too. Great recipe, Mary, thanks!
I love potato salad, this looks good
This is a lovely salad! I bet it's the perfect side dish for just about any summer meal!
Mary, neither one of my Italian grandmothers made mayo based salads. This is a very European and delicious salad!
xoxo Pattie
I much prefer these types of salads over the mayo based varieties. I love vinegar and the bite/tang of a bistro salad sounds very appealing!
Your bistro potato salad looks delicious..I much prefer this type of salad too. Not the ones served with mayo or cream
wow...fab click with nice presentation..
What a nice idea, I love the microwaving tip a well!
Simple, delicious, and beautiful. Sounds perfect to me right now. : )
Potatoes go with just about anything- this salad looks lovely, and a lot more healthy than the usual picnic fare!
A sure perfect bite! and those contrasting colors are so inviting...thanks for sharing the recipe, will try it soon.
Simple and delicious. :)
simple and delicious, for me, I would like to serve this salad with roasted chicken.
Wow its such a beautiful salad..
I love potato salads. This one looks like a big success!
This looks delicious. Anything with baby potatoes appeals to me immensely. I could probably compile a recipe book based on recipes I have collected that use them :-)
Emmm.... this potato salad looks simply wonderful. yummm... Thanks & enjoy your day.
Cheers, kristy
ah, one of my favourite tricks! i've taken to doing something similar when making salad nicoise - while the potatoes are still warm i cover them in vinaigrette, which they then soak up and imparts a lovely flavour. it also means you don't need to use so much dressing on the salad itself.
This sounds so good! Can you use regular table salt if you don't have any Kosher salt?
Yum!
Melinda
I always microwave my potatoes too--I actually learned that trick from my dad!
Mary, I just discovered your blog through these beautiful potatoes on Tastespotting. Wow! The recipe sounds delicious, and I love the tip on microwaving the potatoes. Thanks! I do a similarly mayo-free Italian potato salad with tomatoes and capers.
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