In honor of Labor Day Weekend – and the big kick-off to FOOTBALL SEASON – I decided to share one of my favorite recipes with you: Armenian Potato Salad. I learned how to make it from my mom – who I’m guessing learned how to make it from an Armenian friend in Saudi Arabia. I prefer it to regular, mayo-based potato salad. For one thing, it’s lighter. And if you don’t eat it right away, it gets better. Because there’s no mayo in it, it’s perfect to take on a picnic or to a tailgate party since it doesn’t need to be refrigerated.
That’s a winning recipe in my book!
You will need:
- a bag of small red potatoes
- a couple of green onions
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- a handful of parley
- 1 lemon
- EVOO*
- salt & pepper
Start out by boiling the red potatoes. I don’t peel them, I just rinse ’em off and, depending on how big they are, either quarter them or cut them into chunks. Put them in a pot of salted water and boil until fork tender.
For the dressing, squeeze a lemon into about a quarter cup of EVOO. Chop up 2-3 cloves of garlic and stir that in. Then add some freshly ground salt and pepper.
When the potatoes are done, drain them and put them back in the pot for a few seconds and shake them around a little bit. This will dry them. Then dump them in a bowl and add the dressing, stirring so all the potatoes get a shot of yumminess. Grind some more salt and pepper over them.
Chop up the parsley and slice the green onions thinly, then add them to the potatoes.
Give the potatoes a gentle, loving stir and – this is the hardest part – set them aside for a while. As long as you can stand it. I suggest putting them in the fridge to cool, because if they’re out of sight you won’t be tempted to try them. Believe me, once you taste a forkful, it’s all over.
I hope you like these as much as I do. If so, come back and tell me.
If not, don’t bother.
*EVOO is Extra Virgin Olive Oil
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