Russian Monday: Warm Potato Salad with Radish & Cucumber, Mustard Dressing

In serious Russian cookbooks potato salads always merit to get chapter of their own. This is because potato salad is not just salad with potatoes, like “Vinegrette” or "Olivier", you are already familiar with, but rather whole category of salads, in which potatoes are the leading ingredient. This particular kind of salad does not require young small potatoes (although, I like to use new potatoes for this salad), the important factor is if the kind of potatoes you use would keep their shape after boiling and can be easily cut in cubes or slices that would not break when mixing with other ingredients.

Usually it is recommended to boil potatoes unpeeled. It is important to avoid over-boiling, so in order to check readiness you can use fork to poke a potato or two and if you can penetrate them without an effort – your potatoes are ready.

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Warm Potato Salad with Radish & Cucumbers, Mustard Dressing

Note: The cucumber and radish add not only color but also a real freshness to the salad.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. (500g) new potatoes, scrubbed and halved
• 1-2 small cucumbers, sliced thinly
• 1 bunch radishes, sliced thinly

For the dressing:

• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard or other mustard
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. chopped mixed herbs (parsley, sage, dill)
• 1 tsp fire roasted tomatoes, or sun dried tomatoes, chopped (optional)
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Cook the potatoes in a pan of salted boiling water for 10-15 minutes, or until tender. Drain thoroughly and set aside to cool.

Arrange the cucumber and radish slices on a serving plate in a decorative pattern and pile the cooked potatoes in the center of the slices.

In a small bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients, whisking until thoroughly mixed. Pour the dressing over the salad, tossing well to coat all of the ingredients. Chill in the refrigerator before serving.