If you’re at a picnic, do you go for the potato salad or the cole slaw? I’m a cole slaw person always – the really sweet mayonnaise-y kind. But potatoes smothered in mayo? No thanks. Why is cabbage in mayo better than potatoes in mayo? No clue. But while I don’t go for “potato salad,” I do like a potato salad.
Of course, what I mean is that this is a salad… with potatoes (and green beans and yellow wax beans and some other things). Instead of mayo, it’s dressed with everything that I think goes best with potatoes: olive oil, good dijon mustard, garlic capers, lemon, parsley and fresh oregano (I’ve got a ton of it growing in my backyard right now).
I couldn’t resist these pretty purple potatoes that were at the farmers market, but Yukon Golds, new potatoes, or fingerling potatoes would work just fine here.
I also couldn’t pass up these gorgeous green and yellow wax beans – a goop-y beige potato salad, this is not.
I added some cooked bulgur (that I had leftover), and soft boiled eggs to make it a meal on it’s own. But you could skip those things, toss this into a big bowl and serve it as a bbq side dish. It should sit well at room temp because, of course, there’s no mayonnaise.
Green Bean & Purple Potato Salad
- 6-8 small-medium purple potatoes (about ¾ pound)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, more to taste
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 heaping teaspoon of capers
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 2 big handfuls of green and/or yellow wax beans
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 2 scallions, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh oregano leaves
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup cooked chickpeas
- ½ cup cooked bulgur (quinoa, or millet if gluten free)
- soft boiled eggs (instructions here)
- pickled onions (not pictured, but a tasty addition)
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Scrub the potatoes and slice them into 1 inch pieces. Add the potatoes and cook until knife-tender, about 15 minutes. (Alternatively, you could roast them in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil at 400°F for 20-25 minutes).
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, capers, mustard and generous pinches of salt and pepper. Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to smash the garlic and capers into a paste at the bottom of the bowl. When your potatoes are done, scoop them out of the water (leave the water boiling for your green beans), transfer them to the bowl, and toss to coat them with the 'dressing' at the bottom of the bowl.
- Prepare a bowl of ice water and place it near your pot of boiling water. Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook they’re tender but still vibrant. About 3 minutes. Scoop them out of the boiling water and into the ice bath to cool - about 1 minute. Drain and toss them into the bowl of potatoes. Add the lemon juice, zest, scallions, parsley, oregano, and red pepper flakes and toss to coat.
- Taste and add more salt, pepper, lemon juice to taste. If your salad is a little dry, drizzle some more olive oil and toss again.
- Optional: add cooked chickpeas, a (cooked) grain, and/or a few soft-boiled eggs.
Those who come to read your article will find lots of helpful and informative tips.
Very appetizing!
Top marks for this. Great recipe. And tastes delicious, thanks for sharing.
Simon
This is SO GOOD! We’ve made it twice already and I seriously hide the leftovers so I can take for lunch the next day. I much prefer this to mayo-based potato salad, and am glad to have something delicious to make with the overabundance of fresh oregano I have right now.
I just finished this – made it with bulgur + hard boiled egg (which was a mistake – cooked it took too long!). It wasn’t nearly as colorful as yours, but it was DELICIOUS. I’m so happy right now.
Ooooooo, this looks so good! I have a ton of purple potatoes growing in the garden right now, can’t wait to dig some up and make this beauty!
Those purple potatoes are so gorgeous! Nature comes up with the best colors 🙂
This looks great! And personally I like cole slaw and potato salad, incl mayonnaise 😉
Wow, this looks so yummy and refreshing 😀 Gonna try it out soon!
Love those purple potato beauties! Salad looks fresh and beautiful as do all of your recipes – can’t wait to try it!
This is such a gorgeous salad! I love the combination of potatoes and green beans — so classic and satisfying. The fresh oregano is a great touch!
The colours in this are utter perfection – looks delicious!
WOW!! I like to eat a lot of salads It is a healthy diet.
I’m always looking for new inspiration for salads! This looks very clean and delicious…. will try it soon!
I Totally love coleslaw. It’s one of my favorites but I guess I also like potato salad…Yep, including the mayonnaise! 🙂 But this looks actually much better!
I agree, the dijon, lemon and caper dressing is the perfect compliment to potatoes. Love how you’ve turned this salad into a bowl meal – that’s what easy, delicious weekday cooking is all about and it just so happened to be the exact topic of my latest cooking workshop too!
this kind of salad is the only thing I crave in summer 🙂 yummy
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All those colours, beautiful!
Dang, you know how to make a big beautiful salad. Looks great.
I have wax beans growing in my garden and cannot wait for them to be ready to pick. This salad instantly reminded me of them. I have a feeling something like this is really going to complement what’s growing in our garden (and coming in our CSA box) this summer.