Lebanese potato salad: Not a bite of boiled egg, not a drop of mayo or mustard

This week’s recipe is for salad again. As much as roasted vegetables are the star side dish all winter long, it’s time to lighten the sides up and go for more salads. It seems a lot of people get in ruts when it comes to salads. I think maybe I’ll feature salads for a couple more weeks to give you some spring salad inspiration.

This week, it’s Lebanese Potato Salad. You won’t find any mayo, boiled eggs or mustard in it. Instead it has a simple lemon and olive oil dressing with garlic plus chopped parsley, green onion and red potatoes. This potato salad is the one I grew up eating. My Grandma Marge, who wasn’t Lebanese but learned Lebanese cooking from her mother-in-law, made this all the time for large family gatherings. It pairs well with about anything on the grill. It’s also a favorite side for grilled kefta (ground beef and sometimes lamb plus parsley, garlic, onion and spices), just plain hamburgers or grilled chicken.

Making batch salads that keep, like this one, is a game changer as the weather warms, the gardens call and there seems to be less time spent in the kitchen. If you plant an herb garden, include some Italian flat-leaf parsley. Then you can pick it from your own garden when you make this potato salad.

I can hardly wait until it’s planting time. There’s just something so satisfying about digging in the dirt and planting vegetables and herbs.

Lebanese Potato Salad

3 pounds red potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces

½ cup green onion, finely chopped

1 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped

½ cup olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

In a medium-sized pot, boil potato pieces until cooked through. Drain water off and let cool while preparing dressing. Mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. Pour over cooled potatoes and mix in green onion and parsley. Can also add sliced olives, if you like.

This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 3:29 PM.