By Genevieve
Today is an official holiday here in Canada for Victoria Day, and it's also the unofficial start to the summer! With summer comes the start of patio season, BBQ season, and enjoying meals outdoors in the company of friends and family.
So today seems like the perfect day to have a potluck with some of the wonderful people I've met through blogging! Since we can't all be together in person, Courtney of The Fig Tree blog came up with the idea of having a virtual potluck - that way we can share all of our dishes with each other and with our readers!
The rules were pretty simple - we each had to come up with at least one vegan or vegetarian dish that we would "bring" to the potluck, focusing on a spring/summer theme. Each of us will post our recipe on our blogs today, and link up to the other participating blogs.
For my dish, I decided to bring a traditional potluck item - potato salad, but with an updated and more interesting twist!
If you've ever been to a potluck, chances are that somebody brought a potato salad. While there are some good potato salads out there, the majority are not vegetarian or vegan-friendly, since they often contain bacon or sausage and are covered in a heavy mayonnaise or sour cream dressing. In my opinion, the worst offenders are those containers of gloop from the grocery store deli section - I'm sure there are some people who love those potato salads and I've eaten them in the past too, but to me it's not a real potato salad if you can't even distinguish the pieces of actual potato in it!
For my potato salad, I used mini red potatoes that I boiled and diced into bite-sized pieces. I tossed the potatoes with bright red cherry tomatoes and garlic, and lots of fresh lemon juice and dill to brighten it up. Finally, I mashed a ripe avocado and mixed that into the salad so that everything became coated in a thick layer of avocado dressing.
I loved how creamy and filling the potato salad was with the mashed avocado, and the flavours all went so well together! This would be a great dish to make in the summer for those backyard BBQs or potlucks, and I'm sure your guests would be excited to try a new take on the old potato salad!
Avocado Potato Salad
Inspired by this recipe from Gourmet
Ingredients:
- 12 oz mini red potatoes
- 1.5-2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3 tbsp fresh dill, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- About 10 cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
- 1 ripe avocado
- Salt and pepper
Instructions:
Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and add a dash of salt to the water, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and drain.
Once they are cool enough to handle, cut potatoes into quarters and place in a bowl. Toss with the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, dill, and garlic. Add cherry tomatoes to the bowl and stir to combine. Mash the avocado with a fork (I like to leave it a bit chunky) and add it to the bowl. Stir until the potatoes are evenly coated with the avocado. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 2-4 servings (2 as a main dish or 4 as a side).
*Note: I only made a smaller salad, so if you wanted to make this for a larger crowd, you should double or triple the recipe.
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