Wednesday Food Blogging: Dilled Potato and Green Bean Salad

Dilled Potato and Green Bean Salad gives new meaning to plain old potato salad.

It was 88 degrees in London the other day, and we grilled out for the first time since leaving New Mexico. To go with our veggie burgers, I made potato salad, but not just any potato salad. Green beans are in season now and deserve a place in the bowl with the new potatoes. (If you're from the South, you know green beans and potatoes go together like, well, hogs and jowls.)

Not only is this salad a beauty to behold, it's healthier than the old boiled egg and mayo version too. And taste? My family is lucky they had any left after I'd "taste tested" most of it before putting it on the table. Ohh la la! What can I say, Dijon mustard and Champagne vinegar are my weakness.

Dilled Potato and Green Bean Salad

1 lb green beans, trimmed
1 lb new potatoes
1/3 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 to 1 cup fresh dill, minced
3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons white wine or Champagne vinegar
Salt and pepper

Boil new potatoes in their skins until fork tender. Slice into bite-sized chunks. Blanche the green beans in boiling water for 5 minutes. Cut into 2-inch lengths.

Combine oil, dill, mustard, and vinegar in a food processor or with a vigorous wire whisk. Toss with still-warm potatoes. Add walnuts and green beans, and salt and pepper. Taste, and add more oil, mustard, or vinegar if needed. Taste again, and add still more if you'd like. Keep tasting, until everything else is done or there is no more. (You're supposed to let it sit for an hour before serving, but this interferes with the tasting, I've found.)

Serve warm-ish.

Notes on ingredients: I couldn't find any dill in my garden, probably because I hadn't planted any. Since the grocer was closed, I used dried dill, about 4 teaspoons. An acceptable substitute, but next time I'll plan ahead (plant ahead?). I combined equal parts walnut oil and olive oil to make 1/4 cup. I figured this made up for my lack of fresh dill. The kitchen gods also approved of my choice of French walnuts, which, as noted before, have made up for their country's appalling voting habits of late.

Comments

[Donna]

I've never heard of walnut oil. Did that give the salad a nuttier taste?

[KathyF]

It's a bit milder than olive oil, but healthier, since it has omega 3 fatty acids. I didn't notice a nuttier flavor, since it already has nuts, and I didn't use much.

[ae]

I love Wednesday Food Blogging!

speaking of variations on a tater salad theme, db whipped this up the other day when we had some pals over. It's deelish and easy. He snagged it from Bobby Flay.

4 large sweet potatoes, par-cooked and cut into 1/2-inch slices
8 scallions
3/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat grill to high. Brush potatoes and scallions with oil and arrange on grill. Grill potatoes for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until just tender. Grill scallions until softened and marked. Remove scallions from the grill and cut into thin slices.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup olive oil, the mustard, vinegars, and honey. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add potatoes, scallions, and parsley and toss until potatoes are well coated. Transfer to a platter and serve.

Enjoy!

[Imperatrix]

All right! thanks for the link here, KathyF. I will be making this.