Home-grown Creamy Potato Salad No Mayonnaise

Potato salad is potato salad. A picnic staple. A summer essential. A carb-watcher's nightmare. Unless I can restrict myself to a small forkful.

Anyway, we had these potatoes in the backyard that were ready to be dug up. Incidentally, the potato flowers are just gorgeous. I never stopped to smell them before, but now that I did, they didn't quite smell like anything, but that's beside the point... They were vivid and perky all the same.

And, there were the potatoes themselves. Not what some would call gorgeous or elegant, but more earthy, rustic, and quite misshapen. Something a consumer with high expectations would avoid picking out and paying for at their favorite green grocer's, but something that might go home from a neighborhood Farmer's market and sit in a wicker basket for photos and provide an interesting topic for offhand chats with friends.

Now, everybody has a favorite potato salad recipe. Or two. Or three. I don't have a favorite or a standard one. Since I turn up my nose on mayonnaise, that particular staple is out. Instead, I prefer thick strained Greek yogurt with some stone ground mustard and olive oil to start off the dressing. And then, whatever is handy gets thrown in, like, chives, green onions, thyme, along with a splash of red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and salt to taste. This time I added a teaspoonful of chipotle in Adobo sauce to the dressing and was pleased with the results.

I know, I should have diligently measured and written down the recipe for the dressing, but, I am a slacker sometimes, sorry about that. As always, if you like to try this recipe, just start off with the listed ingredients and adjust to taste. I like the potato salad creamy/juicy, not too dry, somewhat overdressed.

For the dressing:

Greek yogurt

Stone ground mustard, plus Dijon and yellow mustard to taste

Chipotle in adobo sauce

Olive oil

Red wine vinegar

Lemon juice, plus some zest

thyme

For the salad:

steamed potatoes

boiled eggs (optional)

finely chopped celery

grated pickles

shallots or purple onions, finely minced and sauteed to prevent the onion-breath syndrome