Ah summer time. Isn’t it just a perfect time for picnics and cookouts and checkered tablecloths and potato salad? I have a different take on a potato salad to share with you all today, but first – what’s a food story without a little backstory? It all started when I picked up some green beans at the farmer’s market and didn’t really know what I wanted to do with them. I love green beans, but I have yet to figure out really what to make them into other than a side dish. For some reason they reminded me of potato salad. You can put green beans in a potato salad, right?
For summer picnics I always loved potato salad. I’ve never actually made it myself, but my mom always whipped it up for family gatherings. I love the combination of fresh dill, creamy mayo and starchy potatoes. Of course the traditional mayo is out if I wanted to whip up my own version of it. But luckily, there’s a lot of vegan mayo options on the market.
Since I was already getting a little weird by throwing in some green beans, I decided to go with a combo of sweet potato and red potato to get even more color incorporated. The combination was surprisingly good – the sweet potato added a great twist that I wasn’t sure I was going to like at first but I ended up loving it. The added sweetness was a pleasant addition. (side note: did you know that purple beans are really just green after you cook them? Yes, it’s true. A discovery I was sad to have made during this cooking expedition.)
For the dressing I mixed vegan mayo, brown mustard, and some fresh dill. It was perfect – a little tangy – and reminded me of the salads my mom used to make all the time. The fresh dill really is the key – it’s such a refreshing? crisp? delicious? addition that I can’t figure out the right adjective for. It’s just too darn good.
After topping the boiled potatoes and beans I had a bit of the dressing left over – which ended up being perfect when mashed with a can of chickpeas for a faux tuna salad. I made one a while back, and am happy to report that this turned out just as good! In one quick kitchen session I had a side dish and a main dish that I wasn’t expecting.
(PS. How cool is that lunch container?! I heart the Container Store) The potato salad was terrific, and while I whipped it up to take to work with me, I can’t wait to throw it together at my next summer gathering!
Picnic Perfect Potato & Green Bean Salad
What You’ll Need:
- 1 1/2 cups cut and trimmed green beans
- 2 cups sweet potato (about one medium)
- 1 1/2 cups red potato (about 4 medium)
- 1 tablespoon brown mustard
- 1/4 cup vegan mayo
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh dill
- juice from 1/4 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon minced onion
What You’ll Do:
- Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into bite-size pieces. Peel (or not) the red potatoes and leave whole. Drop all into a pot of boiling water and boil about 10-15 minutes until soft.
- Remove potatoes and add beans to still-boiling water. Cook until bright green but still somewhat crisp, about 5 minutes or so.
- Set the veggies aside and mix the rest of the ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Cut the red potatoes up into bite-size pieces and toss with the beans and sweet potatoes.
- Top the veggies with the dressing (I had about 1/4 cup of dressing left)
- Optional: mash 1 can of chickpeas with remaining dressing for faux tuna salad.
- Serve chilled or slightly warm if serving immediately. Enjoy!
Girl Eats Greens 
I recently tried a vegan potato salad recipe, and it turned out really well! But this…looks even better! I’ll have to try it out next time!!
Thank you so much! 🙂 Let me know how it turns out for you!
This looks amazing.
Thank you so much! 🙂
Reblogged this on doreenlovespink and commented:
Vegetables ❤
Reblogged this on Thea's Blog.
I am new to your blog and it all looks so tasty! You make me want to try new things and cook! I don’t know if you have received this nomination for the Very Inspirational Blogger Award but I nominated you in my blog in this post.
That looks delicious!
How did you get your potatoes to be evenly coated in sauce and still stay in bite sized pieces. My potatoes start to crumble when I toss them in sauce. Am I overcooking the potatoes?
Hi there! Yes- sounds like overcooking might be your culprit. Try to remove them from the water before they get too soft. I like to stick mine with a fork and make sure the fork pierces the potato but doesn’t make the potato crumble or mash, if that makes sense?
Perfect! Thank you. I’ll try it out and report back 🙂
Oh myy goodness! Incredible article dude! Many thanks, However I am encountering difficulties with your RSS.
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Thanks so much – let me look into the RSS issue – I haven’t heard of anyone else having a problem? But I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for letting me know!
Looks simple and delicious, will have to give this a try!
Thanks so much! 🙂
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