Joey's Potato and Green Bean Salad

 

 

 One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is potato salad. Well, specifically My Mom's potato salad. Not to brag, but my Mom used to make the best potato salad in the history of ever, and you'll never convince me otherwise. She would boil a 5 lb bag of red potatoes... dice celery, onions, and hard boiled eggs...  and then make a fabulous dressing with mayonnaise, mustard, and her secret ingredient, evaporated milk. It was smooth and velvetty and comforting and fabulous and absolutely delicious! EVERYONE always loved it. The only thing is, I can only ever make 5 lbs of it at a time! I mean, that's the recipe, so that's what you do!

 So this time, since I was only making a small batch, I thought I'd save Mom's famous potato salad for another time, and just do a simple salad instead. I remembered many years ago, my brother Denny made a fabulous summer salad with potatoes and green beans, so I thought I'd run with it. I seem to think he did a raspberry vinaigrette, but I just stuck with my favorite Good Seasons mix. I added some tomatoes, fresh Mozzarella and basil, and there it is! Simple, light, and perfectly summer-y! Plus it's a different take on a potato salad. I think I need to keep this one in the rotation!

 

 

 

Salad:

Baby red potatoes

Fresh green beans

Red cherry tomatoes

Yellow cherry tomatoes

Small fresh Mozzarella cheese balls

Fresh basil leaves

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Vinaigrette:

1 pkt Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbs honey

1/2 cup vegetable oil

 

 

 

Place potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water. Place it over high heat. Add a handful of salt to the water and stir until it dissolves. While they're cooking, cut your green beans into 2" lengths. Boil potatoes until fork tender. Using a large slotted spoon or a spider strainer, remove potatoes to a sheet pan to cool. Now place your cut green beans into the same boiling water. Boil just a couple minutes until desired doneness. While they're boiling, fill a bowl with water and ice. When the beans are done boiling, immediately plunge them into the ice water to stop the cooking and set the bright green color. Strain. 

To assemble the salad, slice the potatoes, tomatoes, and cheese balls in half. Toss everything in a bowl with basil, salt, and pepper. To make the vinaigrette, whisk together the dressing mix, vinegar and honey. Gradually pour the oil in a steady stream while whisking. You could also just put all the vinaigrette ingredients into a tightly sealed mason jar and then shake shake shake. Gently toss all salad ingredients with as much dressing as you like. 

 

 

Tips:

As you can see, I listed the ingredients, but not the amounts. Just add as much or as little as you want, depending on how many people you're serving. 

Feel free to add or omit any ingredients to suit your taste. 

Not a fan or balsamic vinaigrette? Use whatever dressing you like!