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