Thursday, June 16, 2011

Daring Cooks: Tzatziki Potato Salad

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad.
The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!



I Loved this challenge, any challenge that really does put my mind to work is awesome!
Well I am a firm lover of the original spud salad lol and am not to keen on the "healthy" versions I had tried so far (I know, I know they are better for the figure). After looking up healthy versions of potato salad I came across a few with yogurt. Yogurt didn't sound too bad and I use it often when I make curry so first I thought of a curry potato salad but alas I had no curry in my possession at the time and I was on a strict budget and had told myself to only use up what I had in the fridge and cupboards...sigh...I sometimes wish I was more adventurous and talented at combining different flavors and coming up with awesome recipes but I'm sadly not the best ;-) so when they said we had full reign with this one, my mind went everywhere lol
I finally settled on this tzatziki potato salad from Food&Wine. I love tzatziki sauce and I use it with a lot of my Greek and Iranian recipes. sooooo good
Here is some info on Tzatziki sauce:

Tzatziki is a Greek meze or appetizer, also used as a sauce. Tzatziki is made of strained yoghurt (usually from sheep or goat milk) mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, usually olive oil, pepper, dill, sometimes lemon juice and parsley, and sometimes mint added. Tzatziki is served cold.
While in Greece and Turkey the dish is usually served as an accompaniment, in other places tzatziki is often served with bread (loaf or pita) as part of the first course of a meal.

I ended up using organic Greek yogurt,fresh dill and mint leaves, I didn't have kirby cucumbers in the refrigerator but did have a regular cucumber...it worked great! I used Yukon petite potatoes and left the skin on (it keeps the nutrients in the potatoes ;-)...)
I added some crumbled goats cheese and would have added a little bit smoked salmon if I had it, but that is totally up to you ;-)


Hope you like it!

Tzatziki Potato Salad
Printable version

Ingredients
  • 2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
  • 3/4 cup Greek-style, plain fat-free yogurt
  • 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
  • 3 Kirby cucumbers—peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used a regular cucumber)
  • 1 serrano chile, seeded and thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 cup crumbled goats cheese (optional)
  • smoked salmon to taste (optional)
Directions
  1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook over high heat until tender, about 9 minutes. Drain, gently shaking out the excess water. Spread the potatoes on a baking sheet in a single layer and freeze for about 10 minutes, just until no longer warm. 
  2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the yogurt with the mayonnaise until smooth. Add the cucumbers, chile, mint and dill, cheese. Fold in the potatoes, season with salt and pepper add smoked salmon and serve.
Make Ahead The potato salad can be refrigerated for 2 days.

Recipe adapted from Food&Wine

7 comments:

  1. Looks great! I did a Tzatziki one too! I strained my yogurt too much and I didn't use any mayo, so mine was VERY thick. Your's looks much nicer!!

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  2. I'm sure yours was great! I should try it one time with the strained yogurt, I was being rebellious and not wanting to let go of the mayo lol

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  3. I saw this recipe on Food&Wine and was goinng to make it, but then decided to get a little eclectic and take a different route. Yours looks amazing!! Wish I could taste!

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  4. Lisa that's exactly where I got it ;-) and I think it's a keeper...I would love to know what you made? was it good? thanks for the comment ;-)

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  5. I love tzatziki and I'm making this ASAP, maybe add smoked salmon as suggested. Thanks for the recipe.:)

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  6. I love your salad - then again I love yogurt sauces. It looks great

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  7. thanks you guys I actually really enjoyed this as well! <3

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