Bobby Flay's Southwestern Potato Salad

Thanks for sticking around and reading my blog. I didn't disappear just took a few days off.  My dad is visiting. Yay!  I love visitors. It means lot of cooking but so much talking and fun afterwards, and it eliminates desire to run over and boot up my laptop. But I do have some good stuff to share with you. You'll love this twist on the plain ol' potato salad. Its time for your taste buds to wake up from those warm weather casseroles and soups. 

The weather has been warm and beautiful. Warm for Arizona is high 70 low 80s. My dad is from Washington State so this has been a treat for him. The last two nights we have grilled outside, which means I get to try fun summer time recipes, a few months early. For the rest of you, who are still in the winter season (ie... don't live in the desert) please keep reading because this side dish is awesome! 

So with some grilled sausages I made my take of Bobby Flay's Southwestern Potato Salad. The original recipe comes from his mesa grill restaurant recipe cookbook. Can be found easily at the local library or amazon. Click here to preview it. As with most things, I did have to cut the heat back for my little one, and in this case since Mr. Flay LOVES heat and all things spicy, I cut the heat by more than half and added my own touches. It had such great flavor, color (that you sadly cannot tell from the photo), and the few sweet things add balance to the heat.  Besides the yummy southwestern flavors I have to appreciate the fact that there is no eggs in this recipe, since I know a few people who are allergic to eggs. 

Serves 4-6 

Prep time is 15 minutes + 1 hr cooling. 

Can be made ahead several hours or up to 1 day. SO if you are doing this as a side dish for bbq-ed burgers or hot dogs/sausages this potentially could be a 10 minute easy dinner.

Ingredients:

approx 2 lbs ( I was shy 1/4 lb) small red potatoes

1 Tbs kosher salt

1/2 tsp table salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

3/4 cup prepared mayo+

2 Tbs Dijon mustard

2 Tbs lime juice

2 Tbs orange juice

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1 Tbs smoked sweet paprika

1/8 tsp cayenne/red pepper

2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1/4 or one handful of chopped cilantro

3 green onions (green and white parts), thinly sliced

1/4-1/2 medium red onion, very finely diced

1 tsp garlic powder *

1 cup of frozen corn, defrosted **

* I didn't want to eliminate the wonderful taste of garlic from the recipe, but I though biting down on fresh garlic as the original recipe called for would increase the heat, I was trying to limit. Roasted garlic is mild and would be an awesome flavor choice.

+ orginal recipe was a full cup. mashing some ripe avocad and cutting this down further would also taste good & be heathier

** Once the sweet summer corn starts hitting the market, grilled corn would rock in this dish. Crunchy green celery and red radishes would be good in this dish too. 

Making it 

1. Put the potatoes in large pot with cold water and 1 Tbs kosher salt. Bring to a boil over medium or high heat for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender but NOT falling apart. 

2. While potatoes are cooking, stir together everything else listed above except for salt and pepper. Taste and then add salt and pepper. Taste again. I did the seasonings and mayo first so I could whisk it throughally. 

3. When potatoes are tender. Drain the water. Let the potatoes cool slightly. Cut into diced pieces. Gently stir the pieces into the sauce and prepared vegetables. 

4. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid, and cool in the fridge for at least an hr. 

Enjoy this summer time favorite!
From my Az kitchen to yours