Honey Mustard Potato Salad

I am generally a planner – I like to think about menu ideas and recipes for a while before I entertain. But I am getting better at loosening things up and learning to go with the flow.

Case in point, I ran into a friend on the Friday of a holiday weekend and we realized we had not major plans so decided to get together to cook burgers and hot dogs. A trip to the farmers market provided some easy, late summer produce, but as I ran through the grocery to grab the extra bits in pieces, I snagged a bag of baby potatoes thinking that everyone likes potatoes with their meat. But I didn’t really have a plan. Sometimes, as a recipe developer, I get caught up in always trying to innovate – to add to recipes, give them a new twist. And I pondered those potatoes, knowing I wanted to do a potato salad. But the celery in the fridge had gone limp, I’d earmarked the onions for other things, I had no sour cream, there was bacon in another dish. So this recipe came together out of what I had on hand. And you know what, sometimes simple is better. Just a little shallot and some herbs with lovely potatoes and an American classic dressing. No bells, no whistles. Just a good, solid potato salad.

Roasting the potatoes adds an extra layer of flavor to this simple salad – but you want to be sure to roast the potatoes very crispy, so don’t let any oil pool on the roasting pan. Same with the dressing – just coat the potatoes, don’t drown them.

Honey Mustard Potato Salad

2 pounds small yellow potatoes, or a combination of yellow and red

1 shallot

¼ cup finely minced Italian parsley

2 Tablespoons mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons whole grain mustard

2 Tablespoons honey

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces of roughly the same size for even cooking. Put the potato pieces in a ziptop bag and pour over the olive oil. Toss the potatoes around until they are evenly coated in oil, then lift them out of the bag and spread them on a rimmed baking sheet (you can line it with foil for easy cleanup). You just want a light coating of oil with none pooling on the baking sheet, so it is better not to just pour them out of the bag. Sprinkle very liberally with salt and pepper and roast for 25 – 30 minutes, until the potatoes are golden brown and crispy and a knife inserted in a piece slides smoothly in. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.

Whisk the mayo, mustard, honey and oil in a small bowl. Toss the cooled potatoes with the chopped shallot and the parsley, then pour over the dressing and gently toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but overnight is great.

Serves 8