Light Potato Salad

So it's a couple weeks into the New Year. How's those resolutions going? Trying to get in shape, lose weight, be healthier? Me too. But I hate giving up my starchy food. Fortunately I'm from Idaho and potatoes have their own food group. Seriously, people can actually survive healthily on a diet of potatoes supplemented only with milk and butter, which contain the two vitamins not provided by potatoes (vitamins A and D). (Love my Wikipedia. I kinda knew that before I looked it up.) 

 This potato salad is a great way to make potatoes. It only has minimal mayonnaise (use light if you have it) and extra veggies. Everyone seemed to love it at my family get-together. Plus it makes fantastic leftovers. If you don't have a large group to feed I would actually probably halve the recipe, it makes a lot! I've made this before with those little rainbow potatoes and that was a lot of fun except the purple potatoes look a little muddy. For extra flavor try roasting the potatoes instead of boiling. I don't do that because I don't like adding the extra olive oil to get them roasted. It's great either way! I hope you enjoy!

Light Red Potato Salad

12 cups cubed red potatoes
1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup minced red onion
1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cook potatoes, covered in boiling water, 10 minutes, or until tender; drain well and cool.

In a large bowl, combine potatoes, bell pepper and onion.

In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour over potato mixture, tossing gently to coat. Cover and refrigerate. 

From The Food Network

Nuts about Berries Salad

I love going to cafes and ordering different salads. The flavor combinations that they come up with really work, as they should, being that it's their business to have amazing salads. One of my favorite places is Zupa's. They have so many salads there that I absolutely love! Then I decided there is no reason I can't make these same salads at home. So that's what I did!

Today's recipe is a knock off of Zupa's Nuts about Berries salad. You need berries (I used strawberries, raspberries and blueberries), glazed or candied nuts (I used slivered almonds, walnuts, and pecans), lettuce, and a poppyseed vinaigrette.

When shopping for the nuts you can usually find the glazed or candied nuts by the produce in the salad fixin's section or in the baking area by the other nuts. You can use any lettuce you've got on hand except maybe iceberg. I love baby spinach but I had about four heads of romaine in my fridge so that's what I used. Also, if you don't feel like mixing up your own dressing or vinaigrette then poppy seed dressing is delicious with this as well.

This is seriously easy to put together. Just cut up your lettuce, toss it in a bowl and throw on the berries and nuts. If you are serving the entire salad right away you can toss the lettuce with the dressing first and then toss on the nuts and berries. I served the dressing on the side because I didn't want the lettuce to get soggy. Another tip if you think you'll have leftovers is to let all your berries soak (uncut) in a vinegar bath for ten minutes to kill any bacteria you may not want growing in your food. Just put five cups cold water and 1/2 cup vinegar in a bowl and toss in your berries for 10 minutes. Let your berries get mostly dry before adding them.

 

Nuts about Berries Salad

with Raspberry Poppyseed Vinaigrette

1 head lettuce (or spinach)

   1 cup raspberries

1/2 cup blueberries

1 cup sliced strawberries

1/4 cup candied almonds

1/4 cup candied pecans

1/4 cup glazed pecans

1/3 cup feta cheese (optional, I serve on the side)

Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup honey (or sugar)

1 clove garlic

2 tsp grated onion

1/2 tsp kosher salt

  5 cracks of freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cups raspberries

1/3 cups canola oil

1 tsp poppy seeds

For salad: Cut or tear up lettuce and wash in salad spinner. Toss with vinaigrette if desired. top with berries and nuts.

For vinaigrette:  Combine the vinegar, honey, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and berries in the jar of a blender. Blend until smooth and then, with the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Turn off the blender and whisk in the poppy seeds. If possible, refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. *Slightly adapted form this recipe from Our Best Bites.