Several years ago my husband and I went on a white water rafting trip with several others for the weekend. It was my first time rafting on the lower Youghiogheny river, and even though I did try this activity one other time, I haven’t ventured out again. One thing I remembered from this trip, other than the scary rafting experience, was a delicious potato salad, with fresh lemon, dill and red onions. It was so fresh and vibrant tasting. The girl who made it did not have a specific recipe. She said she just put it all together. So after experimenting, I came up with my own.

Lemon & Dill Red Potato Salad

Most people think of potato salad as having a mayonnaise based dressing. This one, however, has no mayonnaise which is great, because you don’t have that worry  as much about bacteria growth during the hot weather.

Using red potatoes for a potato salad is often recommended. They are more waxy than a russet potato, which is best suited for roasting and mashing. Another option is Yukon gold potatoes, but they are not as pretty. Also, I use the petite red potatoes. You can use large ones, just chop them into bite sized pieces.

For the dressing I chose a grape seed oil. For almost all of my other recipes I use extra virgin olive oil, but it has a strong flavor and I didn’t want to take away from the fresh flavors of the lemon and dill. I also remember that the original recipe was not made with olive oil. In fact, I’m pretty sure she said she used a vegetable oil. Grape seed oil is very light and has somewhat of a neutral taste. It’s also good for stir-frying because it has a high smoke point, which just means you can cook with it at a very high temperature before it starts to smoke, break down and turn bitter.

I hope you try it. Make it your own by changing up the ingredients to those your family loves. Change up the dressing by using one from this round-up of Nine Fabulous Salad Dressing Recipes. Add other fresh herbs or veggies from the garden.

Perfect for a summer picnic or side dish at your next barbecue.

Yield: 6 -8

Summery Lemon & Dill Red Potato Salad

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Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 5 pounds petite red potatoes
• 3/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• zest of one lemon, optional

Instructions

1. Quarter potatoes and place in a pot.
2. Add cool water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until just fork tender about 15-20 minutes.
3. While potatoes are cooking combine lemon juice, grapeseed oil, dill, onions, pepper and salt.
4. Add potatoes and stir.
5. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.