Friday, March 11, 2011

Light n' Yummy Summer Potato Salad



Recently my fabulous friend Candy (of pepperoncini crock pot beef fame) recently sent me a link to a really cool website that I want to share with you guys!
It's called Tight Bod With A Pod . Which made me giggle followed by LOTS of smiles when I clicked the link.
As many of you know I am an instructor at The Bar Method, and fitness/taking great care of myself is really important to me. As you may not know, we're expecting our first little one this year!! So I been extra diligent with exercise and eating well.

After perusing the work outs, which I will definitely be using, you know I went straight to the FOOD section!
When we first found out about the baby, I had no idea all the stuff we preggos are supposed to avoid, it's quite a list!!
Of course, it's all per your personal discretion, but this is my first baby, so as my husband puts it, I'm "over-informed and dangerous". (I think if he hears me ask one more restaurant if the cheese on something is pasteurized he's gonna implode)
All joking aside, he's been an amazing support and is taking AMAZING care of me and our growing baby.

This potato salad recipe was REALLY attractive to me for lots of reasons.
#1 being NO MAYO (the sub-reasons for that being great are- LIGHTER, preggo-friendly, and PERFECT FOR SUMMER PICNICS!!!)
I always want to take potato salad to BBQs or pool parties in the summer, but when it's 80 + degrees out the idea of something drowning in mayo sitting outside makes me queasy just typing it. ( and that ain't morning sickness!)

Here is the link to the orignal recipe on TBWAP it's called Game-Day Potato Salad.

I did what I so often do with recipes I find online- read it once then improvised from memory, then re-read it AFTER I finished and went- oh, missed that step! OOPS!

So here's what I did, and I gotta say, I loved it and will be making this all through my huge, giant, rapidly expanding SUMMER!!



6 red potatoes
1 med-large jalapeño
1 large red bell pepper (go to Trader Joe's for this- it was freakin $2.79 for ONE at Ralph's which is insane)
1/3 of a red onion
1 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed *
1 15 oz can of sweet corn, drained and rinsed --(* do rinse the canned items, you'll be glad for it, the whole salad will taste better!!)
1/3 -1/2 of a LARGE BUNCH of cilantro
2 limes
Salt, pepper, olive oil

Warsh the potatoes and place them in a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and let the potatoes simmer & cook about 15 minutes.
While the potatoes are cookin', get out a large bowl. Put the corn and black beans in the bowl, wash and finely dice the jalapeño and red bell pepper. (if you like a little more heat leave the membrane in the jalapeño, if you prefer it mild, remove all seeds and the membrane)
Add the jalapeño and bell pepper to the corn n beans.
Dice up 1/3 of the red onion and add that into the mix as well.
Rinse the cilantro and remove the leaves from the stems- chop up and add to the mix.
When the potatoes are finished cookin- take one (the biggest one) and cut it in half, make sure it's firm, but cooked through and not raw in the middle). If it's all good, pour the hot water out and place the pot in the sink, run cold water over the potatoes for a few minutes.
When they are cool enough to handle, chop each potato into pieces- if they're bigger (like the size of the palm of your hand) about 12 piece per potato (cut em in half, then make 2 cuts on each half so each halfa potato makes 12 pieces. (if they're smaller just make 4-6 pieces from each potato- you want each piece to be bite size)
The potatoes will be hot inside so put em on a plate and let them cool all the way, like 10-15 minutes.
When the taters are cool, add them in with everything else. Slice the two limes in half and add the juice of both limes to the bowl. Drizzle about 1-2 table spoons of olive oil over it all, then add a few big pinches of salt (1-2 tsp) and some fresh cracked black pepper. Use a big wooden spoon or big spatula to gently toss it all together. Cover and refrigerate at LEAST 1 hour, the longer it chills out the better- it's awesome after a 24 hour chill!!.

Happy picnicking!!