Because I know you haven’t salivated nearly enough yet today…

The one good thing about being booted mercilessly out of Spring and into the hot, muggy oppressiveness of Summer? Cookout days are back again! (Not that we weren’t grilling out in the dead of winter dressed in all-out north-pole-expedition type gear… okay, okay, in the spirit of honesty I’ll amend that and say “not that MysteryMan wasn’t grilling in the dead of winter, while I huddled inside under three blankets, with the heat on full, praying for spring.” )

And you know if you’re cooking out, going to a cookout, or just thinking you may want to cook out sometime in the near future… you gotta have some potato salad. I know, I know… there are as many different versions of potato salad as there are fish in the sea, and everyone likes it differently. So I’m not saying my recipe is the best, I’m just throwing it out there in case you’re looking for something a little different in your potato salad this year.

Step 1: Boil Stuff

What you’re looking at here is 2 large russet potatoes, cubed and boiled in salted water for 10 minutes or until easily skewered with a fork.

What you are not looking at here is an egg getting itself hard-boiled in a pot, mainly because I didn’t take a picture of it. Basically egg meets pot of water. Pot of water meets burner. Wait until water boils for a couple of minutes and then I just shut the burner off and let it cool on its own. I have no idea if this is proper egg-boiling etiquette, but it’s what I do and it works.

Step 2: The “Garden Fresh” Part

Basically this entire recipe could be summed up by saying: Make your regular potato salad recipe, except omit the celery and add some chopped up fresh green beans and dill. But then I wouldn’t have an excuse to play with the Nikon, so you’re getting the whole blow-by-blow account here.

So, I finely mince what amounts to a tablespoon of onion, half a cup of fresh green beans (do me a favor and don’t try this with that shit that comes out of a can… I can’t even imagine how that would taste, but the thought of it is making my gag reflex kick in), and the hard boiled egg.

All of these get added to the potatoes along with some salt and pepper.

You may be leary about the green beans, but don’t be… they are all crunch and freshness and way better than celery.

Step 3: Dressing

I don’t like that overwhelming mustard taste that a lot of potato salads have, so my dressing goes something like: 1/2 - 3/4 c. full-fat mayo, 1 Tbsp. mustard, tiny splash of apple cider vinegar, tiny pinch of sugar, and at least a tablespoon of fresh or dried dill. I use a lot of dill.

What you probably don’t want to do is add organic creamy peanut butter, even though you may notice a jar in the picture above. I just always like to have the peanut butter handy in case I need to grab a spoonfull and roll it in chocolate chips.

What?? It improves my disposition.

Step 4: Mix & Mix

I expect this part is fairly self-explanatory.

Maybe you want to add more dill. I did.

Step 5: Enjofsydifbnsd…

sry. can’t type. too busy eating.

Variation: If you want the MysteryMan version of this dish: omit egg, add bacon. Because that man will slice off his own thumb before eating something that looks like an egg, tastes like an egg, has the word “egg” in its name, or could possibly have, at one point in its short existance, come into contact with an egg.

* If you’re looking for more cookout worthy recipes: Grilled Corn & French Onions

Tags: cooking out, potato salad, recipe