28 Cooks' Memorial Day Remix - Potato Salad with Chili-Cumin Vinaigrette

I was digging through my archives for this potato salad recipe, since it's one of my favorites. I saw the date posted and realized I made this last year for Memorial Day, so I thought I'd share the recipe again, although this time with an updated picture.

Following is the original post:

Everyone loves a picnic - the fresh air, the smell of the barbeque, and the variety of potluck dishes on the table. Usually, you'll find at least one or two mayonnaise-based salads, a macaroni salad, and some sort of potato salad. I'm not crazy about mayo, so I'm always interested in any potato salad without it.

I knew what I wanted to try with this salad, but it wasn't until I tasted the final product that I knew I had hit it. The toasted cumin in the dressing, alongside the fresh cilantro and dried thai chilies, provide a perfect summery dressing with a bit of a twang. Also, since it's mayo-less and uses olive oil as the base, this is very low in calories and fat, which makes it almost guilt-free.


*On the heat scale, it's only about a 2 out of 5*



Potato Salad with Chile-Cumin Vinaigrette

5 cups red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1" pieces
1 tsp salt
2 green onions
3 tbsp red onion, diced

Vinaigrette
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 dried thai chiles
1/2 c fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 jalapeno
1 tsp minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
6 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 c olive oil 1/2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Place potato pieces into a large saucepan and cover with water. Add 1 tsp of salt. Bring water to a boil, and boil about 8 minutes. Potatoes should be tender when pierced with a skewer. Drain pot, and place potatoes into large bowl. Add green and red onion.
Vinaigrette - place cumin seeds in a small skillet. Over high heat, toast 2 minutes, until seeds are fragrant and brown. Allow to cool, and grind in a mortar and pestle. In food processor, combine cumin, chilies, cilantro, jalapeno, onion, garlic, and rice vinegar. Process until all ingredients are well minced. With motor running, slowly add olive oil until dressing is emulsified.
Pour vinaigrette over potatoes and stir to coat. Serve at room temperature or chilled.