I have always enjoyed potato salad made with red skin potatoes. Those potatoes are superior to other types when making potato salad. For me it is a matter of texture as well as taste. Regular potatoes can be mealy in potato salad if they are even slightly overcooked, but red skin potatoes maintain just the right amount of firmness. As I understand it, red skin potatoes are not at all good for making mashed potatoes. Okay, it is perfectly reasonable that different, though related, vegetables would do relatively better or worse in any given dish using that kind of vegetable.

Supermarkets sell various types of potato salad and I note the the most expensive is always red skin potato salad. This difference is quite noticeable in the overall quality of the potato salads so the price difference makes sense.

This Food Nirvana recipe for red skin potato salad is a composite of the best I found on the Internet, modified by me to maximize taste and texture. One item in particular is the use of a small amount of vinegar used when cooking the sliced potatoes, which helps to make the texture perfect.

Let's get started ... I really hope you make this potato salad as it is excellent.

Ingredients:

3 lbs. of washed red skin potatoes, unpeeled and each quartered lengthwise and then cut into 1/4" thick slices crosswise

1/3 cup of mayonnaise

1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp. of unseasoned rice vinegar for the salad

2 tbsp. of unseasoned rice vinegar in the water used to cook the potato slices

1 tbsp. of Dijon mustard

1 tsp. of sea salt for the salad

2 tbsp. of Kosher salt for cooking the potato slices

1/2 tsp. of black pepper for the salad

3/4 cup of finely diced celery

1/2 cup of finely chopped fresh chives

1/3 cup of finely diced purple salad onion

Directions:

Put the washed/sliced potato pieces into a two quart saucepan, and fill it with cold water to barely cover the potatoes.

Add the 2 tbsp. of Kosher salt to the water. Also add 2 tbsp. of rice vinegar, then stir gently to mix in the salt and the vinegar.

Bring the water to a boil on medium heat and then simmer the potato slices in the hot water for eight minutes.

Drain the potato slices in a colander, rinse them briefly with cold water, and set them aside. The potato slices should be used in the next steps while they are warm.

Add the mayonnaise, olive oil, one tbsp. of rice vinegar, the sea salt and the pepper to a three quart bowl and whisk those ingredients until they are well mixed, making the dressing.

Put the warm potato slices into the salad dressing bowl in small amounts and use one of your hands to gently coat the potato slices with the dressing. Continue that process until all of the potato slices have been coated with the dressing.

Add all of the celery, chives and salad onion to the bowl and mix those ingredients into the salad by hand, gently.

At this point I suggest washing your hand!

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the salad for a few hours or even overnight to better blend the flavors. Or, you can choose to eat the potato salad while it is warm, for it is great both ways.

Enjoy this red skin potato salad as a fine side dish for many different types of meals..