When you have a marathoner in the family (um...not me), you have to plan to include some sort of carbs into each meal. Five mornings each week, my husband heads out to run anywhere from 7 to 21 miles and, on the other two days, he does strengthening workouts. The man burns some serious calories. Despite the fact that I run four days per week, my calorie burn total is like that of a sloth in comparison. That might have something to do with the fact that I run half the speed and distance as our resident Speedy Gonzales. This fact, however, does not stop me from trying to keep up with his massive consumption of food.
While we typically try to fill our plates with whole grain carbs, such as Ginger, Jalapeno & Coconut Brown Rice and Quinoa with Black Beans, Corn & Chipotle Peppers, occasionally we are tempted by other types of carbs. When I found these baby Yukon gold potatoes, freshly dug that morning, at my favorite farm stand, I knew they were destined for our dinner plates. Considering my husband's dislike for mayonnaise and a fortuitous leftover bowl of Lemon & Almond Basil Pesto in the fridge, this salad fit our taste buds and time constraints.
Prepare 2 pounds of baby potatoes (Yukon Gold or red-skinned) by scrubbing an cutting the larger ones into bite-sized pieces. Place the potato pieces in a large pot of cold, salted water. Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes until they are tender when pierced with a fork, but not falling apart. Drain the potatoes and run them under cold water to stop further cooking.
Place the potatoes in a serving bowl and gently toss with â…“ cup Lemon & Almond Basil Pesto or your favorite basil pesto until well combined.
Cut 6 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise. Cut 3 ounces fresh mozzarella into thin strips. Gently toss tomatoes and mozzarella with the potatoes. Season with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste. Serve or refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.
Other potato salad recipes with pesto:
Bitchin' Camero's Pesto & Smoked Salmon Potato Salad
Coconut & Lime's Radish Pesto Potato Salad
The Not So Skinny Kitchen's Pesto Potato Salad
Pesto Potato, Tomato & Fresh Mozzarella Salad
2 lbs. baby potatoes (Yukon or red-skinned), scrubbed and cut in bite-sized pieces
Salt for the water
â…“ cup Lemon & Almond Basil Pesto, or your favorite pesto
6 oz. grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
3 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut into thin strips
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Place the potato pieces in a large pot of cold, salted water. Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes until they are tender when pierced with a fork, but not falling apart. Drain the potatoes and run them under cold water to stop further cooking.
Place the potatoes in a serving bowl and gently toss with pesto until well combined. Gently toss with tomatoes and mozzarella with the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve or refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.
Serves 6.
Rochelle
Beautiful salad! I love pesto and your lemon, almond and basil version sounds perfect with tomatoes and potatoes 😀 I have to give this a try when I can get my hands on some good basil!!
Mags
I just made a fresh batch of pesto today and can't wait to try this!
Cookin' Canuck
Thanks you for all of your kind comments. It is nice to have a mayo-free option for potato salad in my repertoire.
Kevin
I have been thinking about doing a pesto potato salad for a while. The tomatoes and mozzarella would be perfect in it!
Devaki
Oh Dara - How wonderful to actually eat a postatoe salad with freshpesto and mozza and those lovely tomatoes. And what a lucky man Speedy Gonzales is!
I doubt there is anyone out there who is enjoying your summer bounty posts as much as me 🙂
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
madge @ vegetariancasserolequeen
Great change from the usual mayo potato salad! Thanks, I'll give this a try.
Angie's Recipes
I am not really a big potato fan, but this looks so delicious and would love to give them a try!
gina@whatsfordinnerasl
This is something I could eat everyday! I wish I could run like that! Thanks for sharing!
-Gina-
Suzanne aka vivisue
LOVE Yukons! They are hands down our favorite potato. I'll be a few little reds every now and then for green beans, but 99% it is the Yukon that wins at our house - even for baked potatoes! This looks delicious and a great diversion from regular mustard potato salad (which we love, too).
Sloths UNITE!
Magda
Great salad, makes me wanna go to a market and buy these tiny delicious potatoes.