SALADS

[Back to overview basic cooking methods]

The basic ingredients of a potato salad are boiled potatoes in cubes, slices or wedges and a sauce or dressing. And then you can add all kinds of ingredients. You will find various options under the heading ‘tips’.

Boiling and cutting potatoes

• You can make potato salad with peeled or unpeeled potatoes: do you want to use unpeeled potatoes? Then rub them clean under a running tap or scrub the potatoes.
• The potatoes are cut into cubes, slices or wedges after they have cooled, but are you using large potatoes? If so, then cut the potatoes in half before boiling so as to shorten the cooking time
• Boil the potatoes until they are cooked, but not cooked through and through: make sure they are still firm (if necessary, see the instructions basic cooking method ‘boil’)
• Drain off the potatoes and allow to cool

Make a dressing/sauce

Of course, you can buy a ready-made dressing or sauce, but there are a lot of recipes that you can try. One of these is a creamy, yoghurt sauce. The ingredients below are enough for about 500 grams potatoes. Mix them in a small bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper:

• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon crème fraîche
• 2 tablespoons low-fat yoghurt
• 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
• Pepper and salt

Cutting the potatoes

• After they have cooled, cut the potatoes into cubes, slices or wedges that are about the same size and put them in a bowl or dish
• Add the sauce or dressing and toss.
• If desired, use additional ingredients (see ‘Tips’): you can add them to the mixture or you may opt to serve them separately in small bowls with the salad. This will allow your guests to choose for themselves so that everyone will have something to their liking!
• Refrigerate the salad until it is time for serving.

Additional ingredients may include:

• Fried bacon bits
• Ham slivers
• Tuna
• Smoked salmon
• Small tomatoes
• Pickle
• Egg (boiled)
• Pearl onions
• Red onion