Blog / Soups & Salads

My Potato Salad Never Weeps, But I Do.

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - My Potato Salad Never Weeps, But I Do.

I call my Southern-style potato salad, confetti because it’s colorful and tastes like a parade is happening in my mouth! My taste buds are like little cheerleaders marching, screaming with delight and doing cartwheels with every bite! There’s something about the combo of potato chunks, mayo, American mustard, sweet relish and hard boiled eggs that comforts me and makes me feel cozy and loved. Plus, you get a good dose of veggies, so it must be healthy-ish.

The 4th of July screams potato salad, but did I make it this year? No. My host and co-party chair made German potato salad for our Independence Day 2015 barbecue. I shelved this recipe until our Labor Day “End Of Summer” celebration. We threw a small shindig for eighty guests. We had so many people we made two different potato salads because we could!

I’ll admit I felt a twinge of sadness as I prepped this salad.

Mama Mia! That Some Spicy Calamari Salad

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - Mama Mia! That Some Spicy Calamari Salad

Who remembers the 1969 Alka Seltzer commercial? Mama Mia! That’s A Spicy Meatball.

On Saturday, the plan was to remake the spicy calamari salad, I’d made the previous Sunday because the original would not have given the guy in the heartburn.  It lacked kick. I’d also served it cold and I thought it would be better warmer on the temperature side and the Scoville scale side.

This Cucumber Salad Is Smashing

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - This Cucumber Salad Is Smashing

Do you ever want to just smash something? When I was a little girl I was rather partial to a temper tantrum. I’d get so angry, I’d simply want to throw things and hear them smash. There is something so satisfying about the sound and it’s a nice way to get one’s aggression out. Are you angry about the never-ending winter or the coming of spring? You can take your aggressions out on the cucumbers in this salad… they don’t seem to mind.

Maple My Endive, Apples, Blue Cheese and Candied Hazelnuts Salad

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - Maple My Endive, Apples, Blue Cheese and Candied Hazelnuts Salad

I first had a version of this Endive Salad with Apples, Blue Cheese and Candied Hazelnuts at the Dominion Square Tavern, in Montreal, on Boxing Day. On their menu, it’s called a “Witlof and Blue Cheese Salad” since witlof is the English word for endive. When I tasted it, I thought, “I must make this!” and never did. I tasted it again in the summer of 2014 and finally made it for a French themed dinner party in October.

Cobb Salad Over Imagined

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - Cobb Salad Over Imagined

What if you had your way with the classic Cobb salad? As Frank Sinatra sang, “I did it my way.”

This is a Cobb salad that met up with a Niçoise salad that rejected its own fishiness. Not that I hate fish, but I thought if I add tuna and anchovies to this salad, on top of all the other things I already added, things would have definitely been a little fishy. ba-dum-bum-CHING