Saturday Salads: Loaded Potato Salad

So I'm on a quest to find the perfect potato salad recipe. Just when I think I've got it, I find another recipe out there that has that one ingredient that I didn't think of added to it and I've got to go back to square one and start all over.

Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love my mom's potato salad. And I have a red potato and dill salad that I like. But the one I came up with today may be in the top three. But I keep thinking of other things that I'd add to it to make it a loaded baked potato salad - which would be awesome!

Start by boiling 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of (or 10 to 12 medium) red potatoes. (I tend to make the rest of my ingredients heaping, so adding in a few extra potatoes doesn't make that much of a difference.) I think I've mentioned this before, but when I boil my potatoes I add the potatoes to the cold water, bring to a boil, remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 30 minutes. Once 30 minutes is up I test the potatoes to see if they are tender. If they are, great! If not, put the lid back on and test every 5 minutes after that for tenderness. You want to be able to have a knife or fork go easily into the potato.

Hard-boil 5 eggs. I know I've mentioned this before, but I boil the crap out of my eggs. I usually put them in the cold water, bring to a boil, let boil for at least 15 minutes, then drain the hot water and submerge the eggs in cold water until they are cool. I have pretty good luck getting them to peel nicely that way.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 ounces of cooked bacon (for ease I use the Oscar Mayer real bacon bits - they're the best!), 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, 1 cup of mayo, 1 teaspoon of garlic salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 1/2 cup of red onion, 1 1/2 teaspoons of parsley and 2 stalks of celery, diced.

Once the potatoes and eggs are cool, dice them and add to the mayo mixture. Combine well.

Chill for at least 2 hours before serving to let the flavors blend a little - it's even better the day after!

Now, to make this a loaded baked potato salad I would substitute chives for the parsley, use sour cream solely (not the Greek yogurt) and add in some shredded cheddar cheese. That's for another day, though.

Loaded Potato Salad:

Ingredients:

• 2 to 2 1/2 pounds red potatoes (or 10 to 12 medium-sized), boiled and diced

• 5 eggs, hard boiled and chopped

• 3 ounces of cooked bacon

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream (I used Greek yogurt this time)

• 1 cup of mayonnaise

• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

• 1 teaspoon pepper

• 1/2 cup diced red onion

• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped

• 2 stalks celery, diced

Directions:

1. Cook potatoes until tender (see my directions above) and cool

2. Hard boil eggs and cool

3. In a large mixing bowl combine the bacon, Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, garlic salt, pepper, red onion, parsley and celery.

4. Add potatoes and eggs and gently combine.

5. Chill for 2 hours before serving.

Note to self: You DO NOT need to add additional salt to the potato salad - you already added garlic salt. Don't get carried away. BTW, good job today! Have a glass of wine to celebrate!

XOXO~Me