Green Bean & Purple Potato Salad

 If you’re at a picnic, do you go for the potato salad or the cole slaw? I’m a cole slaw person always – the really sweet mayonnaise-y kind. But potatoes smothered in mayo? No thanks. Why is cabbage in mayo better than potatoes in mayo? No clue. But while I don’t go for “potato salad,” I do like a potato salad.

Of course, what I mean is that this is a salad… with potatoes (and green beans and yellow wax beans and some other things). Instead of mayo, it’s dressed with everything that I think goes best with potatoes: olive oil, good dijon mustard, garlic capers, lemon, parsley and fresh oregano (I’ve got a ton of it growing in my backyard right now).

I couldn’t resist these pretty purple potatoes that were at the farmers market, but Yukon Golds, new potatoes, or fingerling potatoes would work just fine here.

I also couldn’t pass up these gorgeous green and yellow wax beans – a goop-y beige potato salad, this is not.

I added some cooked bulgur (that I had leftover), and soft boiled eggs to make it a meal on it’s own. But you could skip those things, toss this into a big bowl and serve it as a bbq side dish. It should sit well at room temp because, of course, there’s no mayonnaise.

5.0 from 6 reviews

Green Bean & Purple Potato Salad

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: Jeanine Donofrio

Serves: serves 4 as a side

Ingredients

• 6-8 small-medium purple potatoes (about ¾ pound)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, more to taste
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 heaping teaspoon of capers
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 2 big handfuls of green and/or yellow wax beans
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 2 scallions, chopped
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• ¼ cup fresh oregano leaves
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

optional:

• ½ cup cooked chickpeas
• ½ cup cooked bulgur (quinoa, or millet if gluten free)
• soft boiled eggs (instructions here)
• pickled onions (not pictured, but a tasty addition)

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Scrub the potatoes and slice them into 1 inch pieces. Add the potatoes and cook until knife-tender, about 15 minutes. (Alternatively, you could roast them in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil at 400°F for 20-25 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, capers, mustard and generous pinches of salt and pepper. Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to smash the garlic and capers into a paste at the bottom of the bowl. When your potatoes are done, scoop them out of the water (leave the water boiling for your green beans), transfer them to the bowl, and toss to coat them with the 'dressing' at the bottom of the bowl.
3. Prepare a bowl of ice water and place it near your pot of boiling water. Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook they’re tender but still vibrant. About 3 minutes. Scoop them out of the boiling water and into the ice bath to cool - about 1 minute. Drain and toss them into the bowl of potatoes. Add the lemon juice, zest, scallions, parsley, oregano, and red pepper flakes and toss to coat.
4. Taste and add more salt, pepper, lemon juice to taste. If your salad is a little dry, drizzle some more olive oil and toss again.
5. Optional: add cooked chickpeas, a (cooked) grain, and/or a few soft-boiled eggs.