good-and-cheap

Smaller potatoes are best, but whateveryou’ve got will be fine! If you’re usingvery large potatoes, chop them intohalves or quarters to speed up thecooking—or dice them into bite-sizedpieces if you’re really in a hurry.Otherwise, keep the potatoes whole.Ever-PopularPotato Saladf o r fo u r$ 3.0 0 t o t a l$ 0.75 / s e r v i n gCover the potatoes with water in a largepot with a lid. Bring the water to a boilover medium-high heat, then turn theheat down to medium and set the lidaskew so that steam can escape.After about 25 minutes, try piercingthe largest potato with a fork. If thefork pierces the potato easily, it’s fullycooked. If not, boil for 5 more minutes.It’s fine if they’re a little overcooked, butundercooked potatoes are awful.Drain the water. Once the potatoes arecool enough to handle safely (but stillwarm), roughly chop them into bitesizedpieces, if you haven’t already.In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, citrusjuice or vinegar, mustard, salt, andpepper. Whisk it briskly until the liquidis blended. If you don’t have a whisk,simply whip with a fork.Throw the potatoes into the bowl andstir to coat them in the dressing. Adda generous amount of salt as you stir.Potatoes are very bland without salt!Then let them marinate for 10 minutes.Chop a handful of scallions andsprinkle them over top. Toss the saladonce more, then taste and adjust thesalt, pepper, and vinegar as you see fit.I developed this salad because I’m not a big fan ofmayonnaise-based potato salads. This is really thesimplest thing: just potatoes in a regular vinaigrette.You can add all kinds of extras to it to make it morefestive, but people always rave about the salad as is. Thesecret is that potatoes actually have really nice flavor—all you have to do is season them properly. Let potatoesbe potatoes, no need to hide ’em!If you have leftover roasted potatoes or other rootvegetables, the same idea works great. Just skip thecooking part and go straight to the dressing.2 lb potatoes2 tbsp olive oil2 tbsp lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar2 tsp Dijon mustardsalt and pepperscallionsa d d i t i o n sfresh dill, choppedfresh parsley, choppedpaprikafresh chillies, finely choppedpickles, finely choppeds a l a d46This keeps very well and travels nicelyto a picnic or potluck. Have fun!s a l a d47