Potato salads are a staple on our multiday sailing and front-country camping trips, so I’ll be diving into the options for them in the class I’m teaching this weekend at Flathead Valley Community College. I make filling potato salad in the evening, while I’m prepping dinner, and simply pop open the container at lunchtime, even if we’re sailing under a full breeze or midway into a hike.
My favorite variation when cooking outdoors is simple yet deeply flavored. Three steps make this salad ultraquick. First, you build it with leftover cooked potatoes. I developed this recipe as a follow-up to Potato Bowl with Black Bean Sauté, published in the Waggoner Cruising Guide. But it works with any potatoes cooked within the last three or four days. I often mix yellow, red and purple varieties for color.
Several techniques cook potatoes to a salad-friendly consistency. At home, I bring potatoes covered in cold water to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes, a standard method I shared for Potato Salad with Pickles and Creamy Dressing. On our sailboat, I use the technique in my Waggoner recipe: let a covered pan of hot potatoes and water cool off the heat to 135°F.
For a fried potato salad, a one-pan method cooks buttered potato cubes undisturbed in a covered skillet for about eight minutes. They steam enough that a few more minutes of cooking and stirring without the lid creates evenly crisped cubes.
The second speedy salad step mixes in flavorful ingredients that keep well and need minimal prep. Finally, a simple DIY vinaigrette, thickened with emulsifiers like garlic and mustard, dresses the salad in under a minute with no special tools. Balsamic dressing adds tanginess, but the Creamy Salad Dressing Base and Variations that I shared last week are equally quick and delicious.
Quick Potato Salad
Serves 2
2 large potatoes, cubed and precooked
1/3 cup marinated artichoke hearts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
2 small carrots, cut into short matchsticks
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1-1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 hard-boiled eggs (optional)
In a large container with a lid, layer the cooked potatoes, artichoke hearts, olives and carrots. Mix gently to combine.
In a small lidded container, combine the garlic, mustard and vinegar. Seal the lid and shake until the mustard disperses. Add the oil, seal and shake again until emulsified.
Pour the dressing over the potato mixture. Seal the salad container and shake gently to distribute the dressing. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
To serve, divide the salad into two bowls or lidded containers and top with egg slices. Serve at room temperature or seal and store in a refrigerator or cooler for a later meal.
Julie Laing is a Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger. Learn more about this month’s canning workshops at TwiceAsTasty.com.