A simple and delicious potato salad with crisp cucumbers and fresh herbs. The perfect side for a barbecue or picnic.
On the Ingredients
- Chives are a flowering plant that grows all over North America, Europe, and Asia and are a close relative of onions, shallots, garlic, scallions, and leeks. They have a mild, onion-like flavor that goes well with eggs, meat, and fish. Chives are particularly popular in French and Swedish cooking. In Germany and Poland, chives are served with quark, which is a curdled dairy product similar to cottage cheese.
- Dill is an herb in an herb in the celery family with a very unique taste. It pairs well with fresh, clean flavors like cucumber, mushrooms, potatoes, plain yogurt, fish, and chicken. If you can’t find fresh dill in stock, substitute with dry using 1 tsp of dry for 1 tbsp fresh. Dill is also packed with flavonoids, which have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke (more on health benefits).
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
This recipe makes mayonnaise from scratch. You can use premade mayo as well, or vegennaise. The recipe uses olive oil, but if the flavor is too strong for your tastes, avocado oil works well too and is more neutral.
Dill and Chive Potato Salad
Servings
4
servingsPrep time
30
minutesCooking time
12
minutesTotal time
42
minutesA simple and delicious potato salad with crisp cucumbers and fresh herbs. The perfect side for a barbecue or picnic.
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs mini potatoes (mixed colors)
1 egg yolk (as fresh as possible)
1 tsp white vinegar
roughly 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp minced chives
1 tbsp fresh dill (chopped)
1/2 European cucumber
2 hard boiled eggs (chopped)
salt to taste
Directions
- Wash the potatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Put them in a bowl of cold water to prevent them from oxidizing as you bring a pot of water to a boil. Carefully add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook until tender, about 8-12 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes in a colander and rinse with cold water to bring the temperature down quickly and prevent over cooking. Once cool to touch, cover the potatoes with a damp cloth while you prepare the other ingredients.
- To make the mayonnaise, it’s helpful to have two people, one to pour the oil and one to whisk. The secret to a good mayo is a fresh egg yolk, a thin stream of oil, and a vigorous whisk. Put the egg yolk and vinegar in a clean, dry bowl. Begin to whisk vigorously, while a thin, steady stream (just a drizzle) of oil is poured into the bowl. It will take about a minute before you can tell if the mayo is emulsifying and thickening the way it should. If it’s still soupy after a minute, it will not emulsify properly and you should start over. If it is thickening correctly, continue to drizzle the oil while whisking until you have about a cup of mayonnaise. Add the mustard, chives, and fresh dill. Cover the mayo and set aside.
- Cut the cucumbers into very thin slices. Put the slices into a bowl and sprinkle with a tsp of salt. Mix the slices, massaging the salt into each piece using your fingers. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
- Using your hands, squeeze the cucumber slices to remove the excess water. Add the wilted cucumbers and hardboiled eggs to the potatoes.
- Add the mayonnaise and mix to thoroughly incorporate. Salt to taste.
