This past weekend, we went outside. Ish.
My apartment building has a rooftop that, on any given day, is completely deserted. Of course on the day we decided to use it for a picnic, there were other tenants with coolers and dogs and beach chairs and umbrellas set up. I wish I was kidding.
Thankfully, they were all the way on one side of the roof, so we went to the other side. We didn't even need our masks, which we've been wearing religiously.
Here's some pictures to prove that we are an attractive family.
The plan was simple: my in-laws would come over and we would spend enough time on the roof to make-up for lost vitamin D (my in-laws, they're a pasty tribe). In the process, we would also eat a delicious lunch and have some beverages. The snafu: we didn't shop for this lunch when we made our weekly coronavirus grocery shopping trip, so it was improvisation time.
Luckily, there was a full jar of pickles and lots of leftover chicken from my slow cooker Root Beer Mango BBQ Chicken experiment (a recipe that frankly still needs developing, but sufficed for our picnic). Sandwiches were set. But we needed a side dish. Diet Coke, chips, and salsa were already on their way from GoPuff, but we needed something more substantial. After a quick raid of the pantry and a poll from the family, the consensus was potato salad. Ugh.
I'm not a huge fan of mayonnaise based "salads." Unless it's protein forward (chicken, shrimp, lobsterrr), I tend not to bother. I also don't specifically love mayonnaise proper unless it's doctored up, in which case I am very impassioned - when Kraft's Chipotle Aioli was sold out at the Acme, I wept internally. I knew that if I was going to go through the trouble of making a last-minute potato salad, it needed to be something I would actually like and possibly make again.
Y'all, this potato salad is good. It's simple, unpretentious, and doesn't taste like those oversaturated, globby pre-made salads at the deli counters. Plus, it has the tiniest little kick to it so it doesn't taste unilaterally like mayo, and the addition of pistachios brings some textural variety. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I would eat this entire bowl by myself.
Oh, and the best part is that if you eat it on a rooftop, there's a 0% chance of getting sand in the potato salad.
With a newfound love and a minor sunburn,
~c.j.
ROOFTOP POTATO SALAD
PREP WORK: 5 minutes
ACTIVE COOKING: About 15-20 minutes
YIELD: 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 lbs miniature potatoes (I use the Terrific Trio by the Little Potato Company, but any miniature potatoes will work here)
salt and pepper, to taste
1 shallot, very finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
The juice from 1 3.5 oz jar of capers + 1 tbsp capers, drained (sub: pickles or cornichons)
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 tsp Vietnamese chili garlic sauce (Tuong Ot Toi Viet-Nam)
2 tbsp salted, roasted pistachios (you could also use raw then salt and roast them yourself. sub: any nut - if nut is larger than pistachio, give them a rough chop)
1/4 c. chopped parsley
DIRECTIONS
Place potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with water until there's about an extra inch of water above the potatoes. Season with 2 tsp salt, cover with a lid, and place over high heat on the stove. Once the water boils, set a timer for 10 minutes and allow the potatoes to boil.
Meanwhile, make the dressing: to a medium bowl, add shallot, garlic, and caper juice, reserving 1 tbsp of capers for finishing the salad. Allow to sit for five minutes, then add mustard, mayonnaise, and chili garlic sauce, stirring to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Once potatoes are done, drain through a colander and immediately transfer to an ice bath and let sit in ice bath for 10 minutes (this step is crucial, as it prevents the potatoes from becoming total mush). Slice potatoes in half and add to dressing, stirring to combine. Finish with pistachios and parsley. Since the potatoes are cold from the ice bath, the potato salad doesn't need to go in the fridge unless you're saving it for later. Grab your family, find a roof, and enjoy.
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