Garden Fresh Mediterranean Potato Salad!

This healthy Garden Fresh Mediterranean Potato Salad is not your grandma’s potato salad; it’s filled with sun-dried tomatoes, crisp veggies, and pow of aromatic Italian herbs! Garden veggies and tender potatoes bathe in a delicious dressing that is both sophisticated and complex. Perfect for when you want to kick up your potato salad game a notch!

Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.

Hi there, Ameera here!

Oh, oh, oh, this potato salad is soooo yummy!  The dressing is creamy and vibrant, filled with sun-dried tomatoey goodness!  We all loved it. You gotta give this one a try!

Tips for Success:

• Flavor Profile: This is a more sophisticated potato salad with complex flavors.  It has wonderful garden-fresh veggies.  It has a Mediterranean flavor vibe to it.  It is best served immediately after making at room temperature.
• Cutting Baby Potatoes: If using baby potatoes, we recommend cutting them in half, not quarters.  The reason is the more you cut them down, while boiling the baby potatoes tend to easily lose their skins.  If you have some larger baby potatoes, still only halve them, then once they are done, carefully quarter (cut the larger baby potatoes halves in half to arrive at quarters) them when they are cooling. This will allow you to keep the integrity of the potatoes, so you don’t end up with mushy potatoes.  See notes below on ‘Cooking Baby Potatoes’ as well.
• Cooking Baby Potatoes: Watch the potatoes very closely toward the end of their cooking period.  You want to catch them just when they become fork tender.  If you overcook the potatoes, they fall apart.  We typically select a large potato, remove it from the boiling water, run it under cold water and bite into it to see if it is tender enough (and discard or eat).  Repeat this method until the potatoes are just tender.  Then drain and very gently rinse the cooked potatoes under a stream of cold water until the exterior of the potatoes are cold (several minutes), then very gently shake off any excess water and allow to drain for a few minutes. The key is to handle the cooked potatoes gently, so they don’t break down. Some folks really like that mashed look for their potato salads, we do not.  We prefer a lot of dimension and texture. Then place the cooked potatoes onto a baking sheet to cool completely. Taking time to remove any lingering water that hangs onto the potatoes will ensure that your dressing will not get watered down.
• Potatoes (other than Baby Potatoes): You can certainly use other boiled, diced potatoes, peeled or unpeeled, if you like. The key is to cook the potatoes just until tender, then carefully rinse them in cold water.  You don’t want them turning into mush which is what happens when they are over-boiled, unless of course, you enjoy that texture as we know some folks really enjoy a mushy potato salad.  We don’t.
• Optional – Soaked Red Onions: If you are concerned about the sharpness that can come from red onions, then we suggest lightly soaking them. The purpose of soaking the red onions is two-fold. One – it removes any sharp notes as some red onions can be overpoweringly strong.  In this potato salad, mild red onion perfectly complements the flavor.   Two – it ever so slightly reduces the crunch.  The red onions are still crunchy as they are raw, but soaking can mitigate some of the crunch.  Simply place the chopped red onions into a small bowl, cover with warm tap water and steep for 7 minutes, then drain off the water, shake well to remove any excess water, then they are ready for the recipe.
• Making and Serving Later: This potato salad tastes best immediately after making it.  As with most potato salads, they tend to really drink up the dressing. If you are planning to make this salad for a picnic (or later use) and you want maximum presentation, texture, and taste.  We suggest doing the following:
  • Prep all your veggies and place them in a bowl, tightly cover, and place in the fridge.
  • Make the sauce ahead of time and place in the fridge. If the dressing has thickened up too much while in the fridge, add a little splash of distilled white vinegar to loosen it up.
  • Cook the potatoes, rinse with cold water, drain well, allow to come to room temperate, place in a bowl, cover tightly, then immediately place in the fridge.
  • Chop the fresh basil.
  • Right before serving, remove the salad dressing and cooked potatoes from the fridge, and allow to set for 15 minutes to allow the ingredients to wake up. Then place the cooked potatoes, diced veggies, and chopped fresh basil in a large bowl, pour the dressing over top, gently mix, and serve.

Leftovers and Freezing:

Leftovers will generally keep for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.  Store in a covered container.

This dish cannot be frozen.

Pantry Products Used:

• Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
• Greek Sundried Tomatoes: We used Bella Sun Luci California Sun Dried Tomatoes with Greek Oregano, Basil, and Garlic – Julienne Cut.  This was actually a happy accident.  In our original kitchen test, we used Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomato Halves; which works great by the way; however, in subsequent kitchen tests, our local grocery was out of the tomato halves, so we opted to use the Greek Oregano, Basil, and Garlic – Julienne cut.  The flavor was outstanding.  If you can’t find the Greek Oregano, Basil, and Garlic – Julienne Cut, then use 10 of the regular Sun-Dried Tomato Halves and add an extra ½ teaspoon of dried oregano.
• Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium. You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
• Miso: We used Miso Master Organic Mellow White Premium Lite Miso, Certified Gluten Free.  Miso really lends itself to balancing flavors when you don’t use oil.  You can also use chickpea miso for a soy free version. 

Kitchen Products Used:

• Stock pot to boil the potatoes

If you try this delicious picnic salad, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us!  We would love to hear from you.

Garden Fresh Mediterranean Potato Salad

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• Author: Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
• Prep Time: 20 Minutes
• Cook Time: 15-20 Minutes
• Total Time: 35 Minutes
• Yield: 4-6 Servings 1x
• Category: Salad
• Method: Stovetop
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

This healthy Garden Fresh Mediterranean Potato Salad is not your grandma’s potato salad; it’s filled with sun-dried tomatoes, crisp veggies, and pow of aromatic Italian herbs!

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Ingredients

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Salad Ingredients:

• 1 lb. 8 oz. (24 oz.) red-skinned baby potatoes, unpeeled, halved *
• ½ cup red onion, fine dice
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4 mini cucumbers, small dice
• 24 grape/cherry tomatoes, halved

Dressing Ingredients:

• ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes *
• ½ cup red wine vinegar
• 2 Tablespoon tahini
• 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 Tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari *
• 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
• ¼ cup unsweetened plain plant milk
• 1 Tablespoon miso *
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
• ½ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *

Other Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

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Instructions

1. Place the sun-dried tomatoes (see notes) into a small bowl, cover with boiling water. Steep for 10 minutes.
2. Cook the baby potatoes until just tender, drain and rinse with cold water until the potatoes are no longer hot, place on a cookie sheet to continue to cool, set aside to use in Step 5. See notes on the size of the baby potatoes.
3. Drain the liquid from the steeped sun-dried tomatoes, shake well to remove any excess water, then place the steeped sun-dried tomatoes onto a chopping board and finely mince them with a sharp knife into an almost paste-like consistency.
4. Place all the Dressing Ingredients into a small bowl, whisk until smooth and emulsified. Add the minced sun-dried tomatoes to the dressing, mix well to combine.  Set aside.
5. Place all the Salad Ingredients (including the cooked and cooled baby potatoes) and finely chopped fresh basil into a large bowl, gently mix to evenly distribute the ingredients.
6. Pour the dressing over the mixture, gently toss. Taste test for flavor.  Add more seasoning, if needed. Best if served immediately.  Refrigerate leftovers.

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Notes

*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.

*Sea Salt:  Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.   

*Serving:  4 to 6

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