Healthy-ish Tri-Colored Roasted Potato Salad

 

Tri-Colored Roasted Potato Salad came about because I’m on a diet.  Did I mention that I’m on a diet?  Oh – yes, I did {grin}.  In these posts:

• Cankles and Zits
• Caprese Salad Roll-ups
• Coffee Banana Protein Smoothie
• Confessions of the Incredible Shrinking Woman

Anyway, the 4th of July happened.  As it does every year.  Now Charlie and I weren’t planning on going anywhere for the 4th of July because we are both on a diet!  But, Tiffany texted me and asked if she, Chris and the Princesses P could come over for a swim and of course I said yes.  Before I knew what happened, we planned a barbeque and I volunteered to make the salads.  I made three salads:

1. Confetti Pasta Salad (recipe to follow soon)
2. Lite Pea Salad with Bacon and Cashews (recipe to follow soon)
3. Tri-colored Roasted Potato Salad

And, we (Chris) grilled hot dogs.  And, I swam with the Princesses P; the first time in my own pool this year!  And, I swam in my husband’s shorts and t-shirt because I don’t have a bathing suit that fits anymore!  What fun we had – even when I got out of the pool in my “bathing costume” that weighed so much dripping wet that I could swear I was wearing a suit of armor!  Good exercise all the way around!

Anyway, back to this Tri-Colored Roasted Potato Salad…

How to lighten up traditional potato salad and not miss out?  Well, I thought the following:

1. Why not roast the potatoes rather than peeling and boiling them?  When you boil them, you are boiling away the nutrients.  Plus there are additional nutrients in the skins.
2. Why not substitute light mayonnaise for part of the dressing?
3. Why not use non-fat Greek yogurt for part of the dressing?

So that’s what I did!

 

I started with a mix of small tri-colored potatoes.  These aren’t fingerlings, but a little bigger.  They came in a 5 pound bag all together at Costco.  I used 2 pounds for this recipe, so a little less than half the bag.

Wash the tri-colored potatoes.

Ready to chop!

 

After you have washed the potatoes and trimmed any bad areas, half or quarter them.  The goal is to get them about the same size so that they will roast evenly.  Place them on a cookie sheet in a single layer.

 

 

Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes and toss with your hands to coat all the potatoes.  Then sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in preheated 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes (test at the 20 minute marker; you want your potatoes fork tender, but still on the firm side so that your finished potato salad isn’t mushy from all the mixing!).

In the meantime, while the potatoes are roasting, do all the following:

 

 

Hard boil 4 eggs.  If you need instructions, here’s a recipe:  Hard-Boiled Eggs.  I did a whole bunch because I used the extra to make my mother her Classic Egg Salad.  Egg Salad is one of her favorite things so whenever I boil eggs, I make extra for her!  See the little spot of oil floating in the upper right of this picture?  This is a trick I learned somewhere – put a couple of tablespoons of canola or vegetable oil in your pot with the eggs.  It will make them easier to peel!

 

 

Once they are boiled and cooled, peel the eggs.

 

 

Chop the eggs in nice chunky bits and set aside.

 

 

Wash 2 stalks of celery for this salad.  I know this is 5 stalks of celery, but I was making a lot of different salads on this day and I chopped the celery for all of them at once!  And, I forgot to take a picture of just 2 stalks of celery!

 

 

Chop the celery, reserving the leaves for garnish.

 

 

Select a small red onion.

 

 

Chop the red onion.

 

 

Line a plate or a bowl with several layers of paper towels.  Scoop 1/2 cup of sweet pickle relish onto the paper towel and allow to drain.  Check the potatoes and if they are done, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool.

 

 

 

Transfer the cooled roasted potatoes to a large mixing bowl.  I love using this extremely large bowl for mixing salads, etc., because you don’t make a mess!  This is one of those commercial-style serving bowls that you can buy at restaurant supply stores.  In fact, that’s where I got this bowl 24 years ago!  Charlie and I self-catered our wedding (we made the food) and I bought 3 of these bowls to serve salads for our wedding.  This one survived the fire because it was out in one of our storage sheds (see Any Way the Wind Blows for stories about the fire).

 

 

Add all the chopped ingredients to the potatoes in the bowl.

 

 

Measure your light mayonnaise and non-fat Greek yogurt.  I know this shows one cup total and the recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups total, but after I took this picture and mixed up the salad and tasted the salad, I decided it needed a little more mayo.  The 50-50 ratio between mayo and yogurt is a little tart.  Also, see how big the bowl is in the background?

 

 

Mix all ingredients together and taste.  Correct the seasonings, if needed.  I didn’t add anymore salt and pepper because I thought it was just fine and that way people could adjust the salt and pepper per their particular tastes.  Place your finished salad in a refrigerator storage container and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.  That way, all the flavors blend together.

 

 

 

Everybody was hungry and wanted it like now!  Right now!  It was still delicious, but it gets better and better the longer you refrigerate it.  In fact, 3 days later it is at its peak (if you have any left after 3 days!).

Here’s the recipe:

 

Print

 

Tootles,

 

Related Posts:

(other recipes)

• Caprese Salad Roll-ups
• Classic Egg Salad
• Coffee Banana Protein Smoothie
• Hard-boiled Eggs

(other Incredible Shrinking Woman posts)

• Cankles and Zits
• Confessions of the Incredible Shrinking Woman