Smokey, Cool, Potato Salad

I don’t know about you, but I am a huge fan of potato salad. Up until a few years ago, I thought you could only make potato salad one way; with mustard and dill. Boy am I glad I was wrong! Don’t take it the wrong way, I do love potato salad with mustard and dill, but your flavor combinations are endless when it comes to potato salad, and I am so glad I have discovered this for myself.

I believe I was at a pot luck bbq a few years ago and someone had made potato salad. I thought, “Man, I got to dig into that few times.”. Upon scooping it onto my plate, I noticed it didn’t have a yellow tinge, but it was white like mayonnaise. I didn’t think anything of, I just love potato salad so much that I knew it just had to be good.

As I got the rest of my fixin’s and the main dish, always a hamburger never a hot dog (we will get into that another time), I sat to enjoy my most delicious potluck meal. First off, I love pot lucks, people are so creative and it is the perfect opportunity to discover new recipes into add into my repertoire, if you will. I always save the hamburger for last, and I normally eat all the veggies first, so the potatoes were right into the middle of my meal. I took nice big spoonful of potato salad, and man, my mind was blown! It was so yummy, and now I actually prefer my potato salads with a mustard or ranch base, which is what I will be providing to you in this recipe.

At the bottom of the recipe there will be variations to make this already spectacular, and personally my favorite potato salad I have made, even better! It is also a great side dish to bring to any pot luck, picnic, or bbq; which I hope we are all able to do this coming summer.

SMOKEY, COOL POTATO SALAD

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs of potatoes (I used golden because that is what I had (and I am not making unnecessary trips to the grocery store), but often I use red potatoes in potato salad because they are firmer and I am not worried about over cooking them and becoming mashed potatoes instead)

2/3 Cup mayonnaise (any flavor I would suggest garlic mayo)

1/3 cup Ranch dressing

2 minced chipotle peppers (This was nice a medium spice, feel free to add another one to spice things up or subtract one to cool it down)

1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 2-3 cloves)

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic salt and dried cilantro

2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

RECIPE

1. Cut your potatoes into bite size pieces, roughly and inch or less.
2. Place the potatoes in a stock pot and cover with water. Add an extra tablespoon of garlic salt.
3. Bring the potatoes to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. TIP: You don’t add the potatoes to already boiling water, I mean you can, I am not going to tell you what to do, but if you start the potatoes in cold water and bring the potatoes to a boil your potatoes cook more evenly)
4. While your potatoes are boiling make the dressing I guess you would call it? This part is easy peasy, just add and mix the rest of the ingredients into the bowl you are going to serve your potato salad in (this saves the amount of dishes you will need to wash later, you’re welcome).
5. When your potatoes are done cooking, you will know this when you can pierce the potato with a fork and it only breaks when you push the fork all the way through. You want your potatoes a little firm so that it doesn’t turn into mashed potatoes instead of potato salad. Strain them and add them to the bowl with your dressing.
6. Mix and chill until cool, then dig those teeth into this yummy potato salad

OPTIONS: To make this potato salad even better add bacon to it! As much as you like, no one is telling you what to do. Also adding some sliced scallions would make this dish a little more complex in flavor. Last option y’all, if you like texture in your food, like I do, add some slivered almonds or fried onions to it! Get creative in the kitchen guys, the opportunities are endless!

My delicious potato salad featuring my boys! Enjoy y’all!