Potato salad with basil and dried tomatoes

Yesterday I made a potato salad that was perfect for the season. It was a full-meal salad with meat, eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, and herbs. The potatoes, tomatoes, and herbs came out of our vegetable garden. And it was delicious for lunch on a nice warm summer day.

A British potato variety called "rockets"

I'm gradually harvesting — digging — potatoes these days. Out of the 24 or more plants I put in the ground back in April, I've dug up about six. So far, I've been digging up the salad potatoes that bloggers Jean and Nick brought us from England. They're called "rockets" and sort of resemble American Yukon Golds — with a waxy texture and a sweet taste.

I like these charts that tell you how different kinds
of potatoes can be cooked. This one's British but
we have similar charts in France.

The other seed potatoes J & N were King Edwards, which are mealy (floury) rather than waxy, and which take longer to mature. They're good for baking, frying, and mashing. King Edwards are probably the quintessential British potato. I'll harvest mine in August and September.

A salad of potatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh herbs

It was Walt's idea to make a potato salad with basil. We're currently starting to harvest that too. Basil to me says "tomatoes," and we have those as well. Not this year's, but last year's, in the form of tomatoes that we dried in the oven and put up in jars. They're very sweet and just slightly chewy when you eat them.

A home-made ranch-style dressing with basil and other herbs

We didn't have enough basil ready, so we added some mint, which we have in abundance. Walt was trimming up some radishes too, so we added the nice green radish leaves. As a sauce for the potatoes, I made a kind of ranch dressing with mayonnaise, cream, and yogurt. I always make the mayonnaise myself, with Dijon mustard, white-wine or cider vinegar, an egg yolk, salt and pepper, and a blend of sunflower or colza oil and olive oil.

Hard-boiled eggs sprinkled with little smoked paprika

I also added meat to the salad — smoked pork lardons and chopped guinea-fowl (pintade) breast — but the meat is optional. I served the potato salad with hard-boiled eggs too, so it was a full lunch for us. You can put in cooked chicken breast, diced and chopped, or cooked, crumbled bacon (in France, lardons), or both, or none.

Diced boiled potatoes with chopped sun-dried tomatoes
and optional meats

Here's the recipe.

Potato Salad with herbs & dried tomatoes

2½ lbs. potatoes
½ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 cup diced cooked chicken and/or bacon (optional)
¾ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream (or French crème fraîche)
½ cup plain yogurt
2 or 3 Tbsp. milk (optional)
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard (optional)
1½ cup chopped herbs (basil, mint, etc., or a combination)
Salt and pepper

Scrub the potatoes and boil them until tender, about 30 minutes on medium-low heat. Drain and cool the potatoes, and then peel and cut into chunks.

Chop the sun- or oven-dried tomatoes and optional chicken or bacon. Toss these ingredients with the cooked, diced potatoes in a big bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, yogurt, mustard (optional), and salt and pepper until combined well. If the sauce is too thick, add a few spoonfuls of milk to thin it. (If you make your own mayonnaise, you don't need the extra mustard. This is what is called a ranch dressing, but without the sugar you get in store-bought versions.)

Stir the chopped herbs into the dressing. Spoon over potatoes and toss lightly to coat.

Chill for an hour in the refrigerator before serving.