Welcome To My Kitchen

Easter festivities often lead to an abundance of hard boiled eggs. Normally the cooked eggs will keep in the refrigerator for 5-6 days, but if they have been out for several hours or overnight, they should be used up right away. Potato salad is often a dish of choice for using the abundance and the dye used to decorate the eggs can make for a colorful salad.

The basic ingredient in Potato salad is, of course, potatoes. Any type of potato may be used, depending on personal tastes. Additionally many recipes include boiled eggs. From there on, additional ingredients and dressing types have no limit.

Deluxe Ham and Potato Salad uses two common Easter meal ingredients, boiled eggs and ham. This is a great main dish salad.

Deluxe Ham and Potato Salad

4 hard-cooked eggs

1/4 cup salad oil

1 garlic clove, cut in half

1 pound potatoes, cut in 1 inch cubes

3/4 pound cooked ham, cubed

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/2 head lettuce, chopped

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp prepared mustard

In a large skillet, heat the salad oil and cook garlic until browned, discard garlic. Add the cubed potatoes and cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender and browned. Stir in ham.

In a large salad bowl, combine potato and ham mixture along with the lettuce and tomatoes.

Make a dressing by stirring together the mayonnaise and mustard. Add to the ingredients in salad bowl, and toss gently to evenly coat the greens and potatoes.

Peel the eggs and cut into quarters and arrange on top of the salad. Serve immediately. Yield: 3-4 main dish servings.

Hearty Potato Salad, a recipe I found in a mayonnaise advertisement about 10 years ago, includes chicken, and frozen peas and carrots. This is another recipe that works well as a main dish salad.

Hearty Potato Salad

1 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken

3 cups cooked, peeled, cubed potatoes

1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed and drained

2 hard cooked eggs, peeled and chopped.

Salt to taste

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a small bowl and stir until well blender.

Place remaining ingredients in a salad bowl. Add salad dressing and toss to coat all ingredients evenly. Cover and chill one hour before serving. Yield: about 6 cups salad.

Dilled Potato Salad is an eggless potato salad except for the egg in the mayonnaise. If you want to avoid eggs altogether, substitute more yogurt for the mayonnaise and sweeten with a tablespoon or two of honey.

Dilled Potato Salad

4 pounds small red or white potatoes, scrubbed and cooked with the skins on.

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup plain yogurt

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 cup minced red or sweet onion

1/2 cup minced fresh dill, or 1 tsp dried dill weed

Cut potatoes into 3/4 inch chunks. Place in a large bowl and toss with olive oil and vinegar to evenly coat.

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir in the onion and dill.

Pour dressing over potatoes and toss gently to evenly distribute dressing. Cover and chill at least one hour and up to 24 hours before serving. Yield: about 9 cups salad.

Leftover cooked ham can turn a ripe fresh pineapple into a main dish salad. This Ham Molokai recipe has been in my collection since 1977. At the time I thought tomatoes and pineapple in the same recipe an odd combination, but they really go well with fresh pineapple.

Ham Salad Molokai

1 fresh pineapple, scrubbed and cut in half lengthwise.

2 cups cooked ham cut in thin strips

1 cup cucumber slices

1 avocado, peeled and cubed

1 cup cherry tomato halves

1/2 cup diced green onion, including tops

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

Remove core from pineapple halves, then remove the fruit with a curved knife and cut into bite size chunks, letting the juice drip back into the shells.

Combine the pineapple chunks with the remaining ingredients. Spoon into the pineapple shells and serve immediately. Yield: about 10 cups salad.

Unusual flavor combinations continue to capture my interest. I recently tried a recipe for Pickled Grape Salad which I found in the latest Costco magazine. Serrano Chile and grapes seemed an odd combination.

Pickled Grape Salad

2 cups cotton-candy grapes or green grapes, cut in half

1 serrano chili pepper, halved and sliced very thin

2 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp orange juice

1 tsp lime zest

1 tsp orange zest

1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and crushed

1/2 red onion, sliced thin

1 celery rib, sliced thin

1 tsp sea slat

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped

In a medium bowl combine the grapes with the remaining ingredients except for cilantro and mint. Toss well to evenly coat. Stir in the cilantro and mint. Yield: 3-4 servings.

Note: the directions said to serve immediately, but we found the salad is much more flavorful if it chills for several hours over night. Try it on fish tacos.

Share your favorite salad recipes with your fellow readers. Summer will come along with the desire for new salad recipes. Send them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99159, email therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Now would be a good time to start begonia tubers if you have a place to keep them from freezing.