Homesick Potato Salad with Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing

Homesick Potato Salad with Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing

Sometimes homesickness strikes. Even in the middle of the Pacific surrounded by blue ocean and warm breezes and endless summer. Real summer time is worst for homesickness as juicy, sun-warmed tomatoes and backyard blackberry patches are an ocean away and no amount of shipped-in store bought berries will scratch the itch. 

Being from the Pacific Northwest originally, we savored our summers like the last M&M in the package; the fall, winter, and spring being one, long gray mass of endless rain. Northwest summers meant garden tomato sandwiches for lunch with just a little salt and mayo, ripe blackberries in a bowl for dessert dressed in milk and sugar, and pan-fried patty pan squash for days and days. 

Summer meant sunsets at 9pm, extending our play time by hours. We'd hobble to the dinner table, fingers purple from berry picking, feet blackened by hot, melting tar on the road to gobble down barbecued chicken, corn on the cob, and green beans. Our bicycles must have logged thousands of miles each summer as we rode around and around the neighborhood, sneaking onto the golf course, or just racing. My shoelaces became untied and wrapped around the pedals one time and instead of unravelling them took my feet out and went flop, flop, flopping all the way home as my shoes banged against the sides of the bike. 

My mom's kitchen table in summer 

On lucky weekends, we'd go to grandma and grandpa's. We'd watch baseball all day long with grandpa, help out in the garden or in the kitchen, and eat grandma's German potato salad, vinegary coleslaw, and chicken and dumplings. 

Since I don't have lush garden tomatoes or sunsets late into the evening, this potato salad will have to do. I like the brightness of the lemon and the unexpected depth of the sun-dried tomato. Would be great for a beach potluck in Hawaii (that ends at 7:30 when the sun goes down) or anywhere you find yourself. 

Homesick Potato Salad with Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing

serves 8-10

2 lbs red potatoes (or whichever potatoes you like in salad)

1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

3 TBL olive oil

juice and zest from 1 lemon

salt & pepper to taste

2 TBL capers

2 cups arugula, chopped

1 green onion, finely sliced

Wash and chop potatoes into bite sized pieces. Place in a large pot, fill with water until potatoes are just covered. Bring pot to a boil, then down to a simmer for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are barely tender when pierced with a fork. Drain into a colander. 

In a food processor, pulse sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil,  and lemon juice and zest until all is combined and finely chopped. Add salt & pepper to dressing to taste. 

In a large bowl, mix cooked potatoes, dressing, capers, arugula, and green onion until evenly distributed. Best if served 2 hours (or up to 3 days) after preparation so flavors can develop. Try not to miss home. Enjoy!