Red Potato Salad with Sour Cream
This cold potato salad is the perfect compliment to any barbeque or picnic! Sour cream is substituted for mayonnaise to reduce fat, while still giving great flavor. Since it is a cold salad, it can be easily transported to the beach or the park. Unfortunately it was raining the day I made this delicious side dish, and though I wish we could have enjoyed it sprawled out on a picnic blanket, it tastes just as good indoors!
2 lbs red potatoes, washed and quartered
1 medium red onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 scallions, chopped
In a large sauce pan, cover potatoes with water. Add ½ teaspoons of salt and bring to a boil. Simmer until just tender, about 8 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine red onion, celery, sour cream, lemon juice, and olive oil. Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Combine the potatoes with the sour cream dressing. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour before serving.
Watch the potatoes while they are boiling. The should be just tend enough to be pierced with a fork, but not mushy. I almost forgot about them while I was chopping up the other ingredients, but remembered just in time. I saw a recipe that used chives in a potato salad similar to this. Though I thought that sounded delicious, scallions proved to be a less expenive garnish so I used those instead. I'm beginning to like the phrase "season to taste" because for some reason, I always end up making dishes that are too salty or not salty enough, probably because I never follow recipes exactly as written, and my substitutions or omissions change the salt content. Salting a little bit and testing until it is just right helps prevent this problem! Perhaps as I keep practicing this technique, I will be able to tell when a recipe has too much or too little salt. This potato salad is really delicious cold, but you don't necessarily have to wait an entire hour, just so that it is chilled enough.