When the days are warmer, a table brimming with barbecued chicken, garden fresh tomatoes, a fruit tart and a bowl or two of potato salad is as comforting as the lingering evening sunlight. For variety, dress the potato salad with a world of flavors, reflecting our rapidly expanding culinary options.
Think of fresh herbs, aromatic cheese, sassy Mexican salsa, roasted tomatoes or bell peppers or both. Shallots, spring onions and crunchy radishes add color and "bite," while marinated artichokes, sardines and anchovies bring Mediterranean cachet.
Sour pickles and French-style cornichons impart a briny flavor to a potato salad, and so does a spoonful of spicy mustard stirred into a dressing made from olive or grapeseed oil or mayonnaise.
Years ago, Mama's Sunday potato salad always held a diced apple and a hard-cooked egg or two, and was dressed with a creamy homemade mayonnaise for a Southern note. Today, when I make potato salad, I often jazz up commercial mayonnaise with a squeeze of lemon juice and a little grated lemon or orange rind, adding a fresh zest.
But a potato salad always cries out for supporting greens, whether served in a shallow bowl or on a platter. I always reach for crisp lettuce such as Boston or bibb or red and green leaf varieties, or whatever the local markets are offering. Watercress is a nice touch, too.
There are many varieties of potatoes to choose from: red skin, Yukon, fingerlings, yellow and white potatoes are widely available, as well as freshly dug new potatoes, all with varying textures.
When making a potato salad, firm-textured red-skinned potatoes, fingerlings and Yukon potatoes are best with a mayonnaise dressing, while more crumbly potatoes such as the white round and yellow varieties easily absorb vinaigrette dressings.
For best flavor, dress all varieties of potatoes with the salad dressing as soon as the spuds are firm enough to handle without crumbling, preferably while still warm. If you chill the composed salad for more than a couple of hours, let set out at room temperature for a half hour or so before serving so that the flavors can warm up a bit.
