Purple Potato Salad
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We have been making this potato salad for about 4 years and it is very good. I like to use a combination of purple and red potatoes for a nicer presentation. Purple potatoes are slowly becoming more popular here, as they are showing up in our grocery store every so often, and they are even at our local Farmer’s Market. Be careful when cooking purple potatoes, as they are not as forgiving as red potatoes and can turn mushy very quickly if overcooked.
Ingredients:
- 12 – 14 Potatoes, combination of red and purple
- 1/2 Red Onion, thinly sliced
- Cilantro leaves, roughly torn
- Toasted, salted Pine Nuts, for garnish
For the Dressing:
- 1/2 cup Mexican Table Cream (Crema Mexicana)
- 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil
- Juice of one Lime
- 3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 1/2 cup finely chopped Cilantro
Boil the potatoes for 15 – 20 minutes in salted water or until fork tender, and let them cool. Be sure to check the purple potatoes sooner as they cook quicker. I like to boil them whole with the skins on as I find they get less waterlogged. Also, I bring the water up to a boil with the potatoes in the pot to make sure they cook evenly.
Mix the dressing ingredients together.
You can leave the potato skins on or off; personally, I like to take them off. It is fairly easy to just peel them off now that they have been cooked. When the potatoes have cooled down, cut them in approximately 1 inch cubes (or whatever size you like) and carefully mix them with the dressing, onions, and the roughly chopped cilantro. You may not need all of the dressing so start with half and go from there. Be sure to taste, as chances are good that it will need a little more salt. Garnish with the toasted pine nuts and a little fresh cracked black pepper.
Aren’t purple potatoes just wonderful?! So beautiful! Nice job with the salad, the colors look wonderful!
Hey…this is a really awesome looking potato salad! Will have to find some purple potato’s and try this.
Andy, I’ve never seen (except in pics) or eaten the purple potato and I can’t wait to try it. Potato salad is a favourite of mine.
This salad looks exceptional!! I have been looking for purple potatoes at the farmers market this year, but, no luck so far.
If you can’t find purple potatoes you could use all red ones but somewhere out there a little purple spud wants to go home to your kitchen. I think what really makes this salad is the dressing though.
That looks great. Here it’s hit and miss if we can find purple potatoes in stock. Fun to serve to (bulging eyed, fork-poking) guests tho.
I am growing the purple potatoes for the first time this year.
I found out that if you cut them up in quarters and, boil them up too long, they will ‘mash’ themselves.(If thats what you want). With a little butter, milk and salt, taste very good.
Tony, Yes when boiling, the purple potatoes go from fork tender to mush very fast. I guess if you screw them up for the salad just make them into a mash!
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The last purple potato salad I made had pickled beets mashed in. I just made a simple potato salad recipe, mashed it. Added four/five pickled beets and pickle juice for color, mashed it once again. Add little sugar to tase, and your done.
pickled beets in a potato salad sounds great, I think your on to something.
I boiled some purple potatoes last night and the water turned bright green. Is this normal? I didn’t eat them because it was so odd.
Wow I have never heard of water turning green from purple potatoes. Its not normal. The water turns a little blue/gray. The first thing that I though of when I read this was the random odd Green potato chip that can be sometimes found in a bag of chips.
From the Straight Dope: Are green potato chips poisonous?
Just to clarify: green potatoes result from excessive exposure to light, whether natural or artificial. The green itself is chlorophyll, which is not harmful. However, the same process of photosynthesis that produces chlorophyll also produces compounds called glycoalkaloids, such as solanine, that are toxic in large amounts./em>
i planeted some purple ,they loook like they are growing tomatoes on top of the plants
Made purple potatoes today and the water does turn green! They were delicious. I’m trying to figure out the chemistry of this, but it’s certainly NOT because the potatoes were bad.