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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Red, White, & Blue Potato Salad

I have never really like potato salad (or any salad for that matter), so when I was trying to come up with my sides for our 4th of July meal, I kept trying to avoid it. But, it's just such a cookout staple. So, I decided to take a stab at it. Instead of using a mayo-style dressing, which is the sole reason for my hatred towards potato salad, I made a herby ranch dressing. Now where the red, white, & blue theme comes in are the ingredients. The red potatoes & bacon represent the red, the ranch is the white, and the crumbled blue cheese is the blue. The potato salad turned out really well. I surprisingly liked it. I also kind of mashed the potatoes, so it was a little fluffier in texture, but you could easily just keep the potatoes whole and lightly toss them in the dressing. So, here's recipe 2 of 7 for the 4th! Enjoy :)
Red, White, & Blue Potato Salad
For the Herbed Ranch Dressing:
¾C Mayo
¾C Sour Cream
1T Olive Oil
1T Lemon Juice
¼C Buttermilk
1 Small Bunch of Chives
1 Small Handful of Parsley
1 Garlic Clove, Roughly Chopped
Salt & Pepper, To Taste

For the Potato Salad:
1lb Strips of Thick, Peppered Bacon, Cut into Chunks
3lbs Small Red Potatoes, Cut into Quarters & Boiled (until fork-tender)
3T Rendered Bacon Fat
1C Crumbled Blue Cheese
½C Crumbled Feta Cheese
3 Green Onions, Trimmed & Sliced
1C-1 ½C Prepared Ranch Dressing
Crispy Bacon Chunks (already cooked)
Salt & Pepper, To Taste 

Directions:
1. To Make the Ranch Dressing: Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend in 10 second increments, adding salt & pepper to taste as you blend. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
2. In a sauté pan over medium-high, cook the bacon until crispy. Cool the bacon drippings and then whisk into the homemade ranch dressing.
3. To Make the Potato Salad: In a large bowl, combine and toss lightly the cooled cooked potatoes, sliced green onions, and crispy bacon. Add in the homemade ranch dressing and gently coat the potatoes with the dressing. Add in the crumbled blue cheese and salt & pepper, and then lightly toss once again (or mash like I did).
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving

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