No long weekend this year; the fourth is right in the middle of the week. I hate when that happens.
Traditionally the 4th is a time for “All American” picnic foods. Things like hotdogs, hamburgers, baked beans, corn on the cob, potato salad, pasta salad. strawberry shortcake and cherry pie. I have the Hamburgers, Baked Beans and corn on the cob covered. That just leaves the salad and dessert.
Since I have never had terrific luck with non-gluten pasta salads I am going to take a pass. Fortunately, potato salad is possibly one of my most favorite foods or at least it was when I was eating mayo and eggs. These days, as a vegan, I have had to rethink potato salad a bit. There are hundreds of way to make great potato salad without either eggs or mayo. My favorite involves cooking the potatoes a day early and letting them marinated in my “secret sauce” overnight and then adding all the fresh veggies in the morning.
Potato Salad in Secret Sauce
- The day before you are planning to eat the potato salad steam or boil your potatoes. (I usually used red but you can use whatever ever you like best)
- Let potatoes cool in the fridge for a couple of hours; cut potatoes into cubes
- Place cubed potatoes in a large bowl and add:
- diced dill pickles
- diced onions
- Optional: black, green or Spanish stuffed olives
- Make the Secret Sauce (shown below is my approximation of a standard size batch; the important thing is the proportion of lemon juice/olive oil/dill pickle juice/mustard. Blend in a food processor or liquefier:
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Optional: Instead of using lemon and olive oil use 1 cup mayo
- 1/2-3/4 cup dill pickle juice (Use the juice from the pickle jar; we prefer Claussens which are glutamate-free)
- 2 Tablespoons (1/8 cup) of prepared mustard (Annies is glutamate-free)
- 1/2 small onion
- garlic to taste
- 1 Tablespoon fresh basil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Mix the potatoes and 1/2 of the sauce reserving the other half for later (there should be about 1/2 inch of fluid in the bottom of the bowl)
- Cover bowl and put in the fridge
- Whenever you go by the fridge take out the container and shake it up to mix the sauce a little better
- A couple of hours before you are ready to eat add the vegetables you like best. Use approximately equal portions of each. Here are my favorites:
- Sliced celery
- Thinly sliced radishes
- Green onions
- Optional Vegetables: grated carrots, green peppers, sliced cucumbers
- Optional Other ingredients: diced green apple, olives (black, green or Spanish stuffed); for people who eat eggs – add sliced boiled egg
- Mix well and add sauce as needed to make the flavor and consistency work
For my money the trick is the prepared mustard and dill pickle juice; lots of flavor for very little work!
Dessert is David’s problem. He is the most amazing dessert chef, ever!
Happy Fourth! Have a safe and sane holiday.