Potato Salad 101

Here is the deal with my potato salad, it is never the same way twice, but it is always yummy. I don't think I have ever had a recipe for it, just watched my mom, and knew what I liked. So what I have listed below is something you can tweak, like adding more mustard, less onion, what ever. This is for four to five servings. Takes about 60 minutes to make, and a few hours to chill.

3 good sized russet potatoes, washed, peeled, raw
1 small to med sized onion, white, yellow, red, or a punch of green onions.
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 celery stalk
1-3 pickles depending on size, or  1-3 scoops of dill pickle relish
1-3 cups of salad dressing of choice, like mayo, miracle whip, best foods, what ever you like
1-2 large tablespoons of mustard
1/4 cup of either vinegar or pickle juice
salt and pepper to taste
seasonings to taste, 1-3 teaspoons such as dill, paprika, parsley, celery seed, all, one or two, none
1-2 teaspoon of sugar, but not required

Dice the peeled potatoes into bit sized cubes, add to salted water and cook in boiling water until they are fork tender, if they are too soft they won't hold up, and you will have mashed potato salad. Yuck.

Once cooked, drain potatoes and while still hot drizzle the vinegar or pickle juice on top, the potatoes will soak up the juice and be more flavorful. If you are using dried spices you can add some of them now as well, to help infuse the potatoes with flavor.

Dice the onion into small pieces, and add to potatoes.

Dice the eggs into small pieces, add to potatoes

Dice celery and pickles/ or relish and add them as well. Again as much as preferred.

Top mixture with dressing and mustard, stir in coating the potatoes, start with a cup or so of dressing, and add to mixture to get preferred texture, if you want creamy salad add more dressing.

Taste the salad, add salt and pepper as needed, and other spices as needed, if it taste a little flat, the sugar might be just the touch you need, really I know, unexpected, but sometimes sugar can be the missing touch to a lot of meals. Or a splash of lemon juice. Cover and chill in the fridge until ready to eat. When stored for some time in the fridge, it may get a little dry, just add more dressing.

This is my basic recipe, but you can change it up, add jalapenos, or bacon, top with cheese, use greek yogurt instead of mayo. Use lime juice, instead of pickle juice, toss in avocado instead of eggs. Add olives, or capers. That is the best part of potato salad, it can let you get really creative.

Enjoy!!