Hot off the grill
With its crispy texture, this isn’t your grandmother’s potato salad
For your Labor Day cookout this weekend, consider a tasty twist on a traditional picnic side. Potato salad will be on many tables this holiday weekend, but this grilled version is guaranteed to wow your guests.
Grilling potatoes gives them a delicious smoky flavor. The grill also gives them a delicious crispy texture that makes for a unique and tasty salad.
Simply throwing raw potatoes on the grill not only won’t get you a crispy grilled potato, but it would also take forever to cook. Boiling the potatoes before grilling ensures that you will have potatoes with a nice crispy crust and a softly done interior. Plus the potatoes will finish in only about 10 minutes once on the grill. When precooking the potatoes, reduce the temperature of the water right when it comes to a boil. You want to cook the potatoes at a gentle simmer so that they do not break before being put on the grill.
To prevent the diced potatoes from falling through the grill grates, be sure to use a grill screen. Covering the grill grates with a piece of heavyduty aluminum foil will also do the trick if you don’t own a grill screen.
As for the dressing, I recommend skipping the traditional mayo-based potato salad dressing. I find that mayonnaise masks the smoky grill flavor as well as makes the potatoes lose their crispness. Instead, use a simple mustard vinaigrette. Inspired by the German-style potato salads, I find that a grainy mustard really brings the salad together. Roasted red peppers and thinly sliced red onion offer the finishing touch. Jennifer Chandler is the author of “Simply Salads” (Thomas Nelson, $24.99), “Simply Suppers: Easy Comfort Food Your Whole Family Will Love” (Thomas Nelson, $24.99), “Simply Grilling” (Thomas Nelson, $24.99), and “The Southern Pantry Cookbook” (Thomas Nelson, $26.99). She lives in East Memphis with her husband and two daughters. For more recipes and dinnertime solutions, visit cookwithjennifer.com.