Potato Salad

Just in time for the start of summer barbecue season -- Victoria Day in Canada and Memorial Day in the US -- here is my favorite potato salad recipe.

Larry will cook burgers (well, a portobello mushroom for me) and we'll eat them with potato salad, black beans and a green salad for our ceremonial cook-out. (A grilled portobello mushroom in a bun with grilled red onion and avocado is a messy but delicious eating experience.)

Potatoes have been much maligned in recent years, but they are actually a wonderful food for the colon, the blood sugar and blood fat levels.

They contain a resistant starch that is not broken down by our digestive enzymes so makes it to the large intestine intact. There it provides bulk, offers protection against colon cancer, improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, lowers plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, and possibly even reduces fat storage.

The way to double the amount of resistant starch in a potato is to cook it and then cool it. Potato salad!

So enjoy your holiday barbecue, knowing that the potato salad is possibly the healthiest part of the meal.

The buttermilk ranch dressing is also great on green salads, and keeps in a jar in the fridge for a few days. While it sounds like a lot of dressing, the hot potatoes will absorb it and become flavored all the way through.

You get more protein and nutrients from the potatoes if you don't peel them.

For a little extra flavor, seed and dice a poblano pepper, sauté it in a little olive oil, and stir it into the potatoes along with the red onion. My poblano plant is covered in peppers. If you're not so lucky, you could use a green pepper instead.

Potato Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
3 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch dice
1/4 cup buttermilk (or put 1 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar in the bottom of a measuring cup and fill to the 1/4 cup mark with regular milk)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 tsp lemon juice
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 small red onion, peeled, halved, and cut in thin slivers
black pepper

Place the potatoes in a large pot. Cover with cold water and sprinkle with salt. Bring to a boil and simmer, partially covered, until fork-tender, about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile make the dressing. Whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise, vinegar, garlic, lemon juice and scallions.

Drain the cooked potatoes and place in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over them while they are still warm, tossing gently to make sure all the potatoes are coated.

Let them cool a little, then stir in the red onion and season with black pepper.

Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to chill.

Serves 6 to 8.