This is not your mother's potato salad.

Over Memorial Day weekend I was asked to bring potato salad to a friend's house for dinner. I am personally not a big fan of the usual potato salads you find at the store or at Midwestern potlucks.
My sister makes a lovely German potato salad, which I do like. I had a feeling my host was hoping for something more traditional. I have never made potato salad from a recipe, it was time to try. I applied my usual technique of looking at several recipes online, and combining them into one. As my host and my husband shoveled seconds on to their plates that evening, I thought "well, that worked".

The first thing I learned was to use small potatoes, no huge russets please.
Secondly, I was admonished in one article to treat those little potatoes gently !! They said to use a pan big enough for almost a single layer of potatoes when boiling.
Several of the recipes had me sprinkling them with vinegar and oil once they were drained but before they cooled, who knew ??
Most of the recipes called for small amounts of buttermilk, who has that sitting around in their fridge??  I found my homemade yogurt worked just fine.
I was shocked by how much salt one recipe had me add after I dressed the potatoes, amazingly  it was correct. 
Little potatoes cook very quickly, don't over cook them !!
While beautiful, purple potatoes cook much fasted that all others and turn to mush. I removed them before I made the salad.

Here's what I came up with...

Laurie's Potato Salad

Ingredients

2 1/2 -3 pounds little potatoes, avoid the purple ones but a variety of other kinds is nice.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon cider or rice vinegar
4 radishes
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 large carrot grated
1 tbsp chopped sweet onion

Note: the next time I made this salad I used some other veggies: cooked asparagus, finely chopped red cabbage, use whatever you have around that will add textures and interesting tastes.

The Dressing

1 cup good quality mayonnaise
1/4 cup yogurt /buttermilk or sour cream
2 T Dijon mustard
2 T wholegrain mustard
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1-2 T chopped fresh dill/fennel
1 T chopped fresh chives

Note: you can use dried dill and chives, and could add some fresh parsley or basil.

1) In large pot with salted water, boil the potatoes for 10-15 minutes, until just cooked. Check them at 10 minutes by cutting one with a knife, if it yields, it's done.

Notice how they are in one layer in the pot.

2) Drain and toss gently with olive oil & vinegar, set aside to cool.
3) While the potatoes are cooling, prepare the vegetables you plan to add.

4) Mix together the dressing ingredients with a whisk. Save a little of the fresh herbs for garnish.

5) Into a bowl, carefully slice the potatoes into one inch cubes or whatever size you like. The skins may come off a little, just discard them.
6) Gently moisten the potatoes with the dressing, you may have more than you need. Set is aside for another round of potato salad or use it as a dip or green salad dressing.
7)  Add the other veggies plus 1-2 teaspoons salt , 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
As I mentioned above I was shocked by the addition of MORE salt but it really does need it and I am not one who likes really salty food. The salt soaks into the potatoes, so if it tastes too salty don't worry that should go away during the chilling.
8) Chill several hours, garnish with fresh herbs before serving.