.png "Summer Picnic Blog Hop")
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My Red Onion and Basil Potato Salad is cool and refreshing, well in so much that potato salad can be cool and refreshing. I love potato salad but can never recreate that taste that my mom use to make and heck, even the folks at the butcher store can do so I stopped and just made my own with ingredients I had on hand and now I make it for any summer get together.
Everything you see pictured I picked up at the historic West Side Market, Cleveland's oldest open air market with its origins going back to 1840. I am not so old that I remember that, but I have been shopping there since I moved out on my own many, many (many) years ago. There really is no comparison in the quality and price especially from my two favorite vendors - Bacha's Produce and Greg's Produce.
Greg's is new only in name. It is the potato stand and they added some fruit. It took some convincing to try them but they were recommended to us by the owner of Bacha's, which is where I get the majority of my produce. I absolutely adore the people who run Bacha's.
Anyway, I got those fantastic looking fingerling potatoes from Greg's and the basil from the stand next door to it. I love the creamy whiteness of these lovely potatoes and they hold up great in a salad. I leave the skin on my potatoes 99% of the time no matter what kind I am using or what the recipe is for because all the nutrients are there. Okay, I am not sure about that, I just like the way it tastes.
Isn't that basil just calling to you! It is so big! That big bunch of basil inspired me to make a smoothie with it as well as potato salad and I entered my concoction into a smoothie competition at Juggling Real Food and Real Life (judge me, please!). But, I digress...
Fresh basil is the only way to go in this recipe since it really is the star. The red onion gives it a sweet bite but if you don't have gorgeous basil - don't bother.
Basil and Red Onion Potato Salad
- 4 lbs of fingerling potatoes (you really can use any kind but I l-o-v-e these)
- 1 small to medium red onion
- 1 large bunch of basil
- 2 heaping tablespoons of mayo (I like the stuff made with Olive Oil)
- Sea salt (for cooking the potatoes)
- Pepper
- Slice the fingerlings and leave the skin; boil using sea salt. You could use any salt but - why?
- Chop the red onion in to fine pieces and chop up that basil. I like to taste the basil so big pieces!
- Once the potatoes are cooked, soft but not mushy run them under cold water to stop the cooking process and cool them down. If I am in a hurry I will even put them in the fridge.
- Once the potatoes are cool add the onions, basil, and mayo and stir till coated. Add pepper to taste (and salt if needed)
- Put it in the Frigidaire until ready to serve (or at least 4 hours)
Enjoy and check out these great blogs below for other summer ideas!
Summer blog hop with @WorkHomeWisdom @ShelbyIrwin11 @ayohblog @RSParenthood @midwesternmoms! http://t.co/wn3PzWID7M pic.twitter.com/EWb4Zcp8Z2
— MryJhnsn (@mryjhnsn) July 16, 2014
