all tossed up red potato and artichoke salad
I volunteered to plan and cook for a 200 guest wedding reception 3,000 miles away from my home! I arrived 5 days early to hunt down ingredients throughout a 60-mile radius! What a challenge! I planned to make a mustard vinaigrette for a red potato salad. However, at the end of one exhausting day, I accidentally whisked into the vinaigrette lemon and lime juice for a different recipe. My vinaigrette already had lots of vinegar in it! And so, I quickly grabbed a jar of artichoke marinate I had saved after using all of the artichokes in a tapenade. I doctored up the marinade and walaaa a lovely red potato salad evolved! I love dishes that are vibrant in color, so I added the green beans and tomatoes. My 30 pounds of red potatoes quickly vanished as guests raved about the salad. Many commented on how fresh the salad tasted. Lessons learned: #1 Don't ever TOSS marinades until all the cooking is over. #2 Don't cook when you are exhausted! #3. When a mistake is made just TOSS together whatever great ingredients you have at hand and your new dish just might be better than the dish you had planned. When I arrived back home, I pondered how well received the artichoke scented red potato, tomato, green bean salad was and decided to TOSS it together, in a smaller portion! I intentionally added artichoke marinade and also tossed in artichoke hearts. How rewarding to hear my husband say, "This is the best potato salad I've ever had. It is so fresh. So much better than that creamy stuff!".
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon salt for boiling water
- 3 pounds unpeeled whole baby red potatoes, 2-inches or under
- 2 cups petite green beans, cut in half, snip ends, blanched 3 minutes
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 2 cups marinated artichoke hearts (in jar), if hearts don’t come quartered, cut in quarters
- 1 cup marinate juice from jar of marinated artichokes
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest from one lemon
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice from one lemon
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, additional salt to taste
- 1/4 cup packed fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup real bacon bits
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
How To Make all tossed up red potato and artichoke salad
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Step 1Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil, and add salt. Add red potatoes, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes, cool, and cut in quarters; place in a large salad bowl. Add to the potatoes blanched green beans, celery, cherry tomatoes, and artichoke hearts; set aside.
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Step 2In a small bowl, whisk marinate juice, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, green onions, sugar, and salt. Pour over potatoes, add basil, parsley, and bacon bits, LIGHLY TOSS. Cover and chill potato salad in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. To serve, sprinkle with pepper and salt to taste. Yields: 12 cups.
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