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.
Gera @ Sweets Foods Blog
Your husband is marathoner wow I understand how much carbs are needed at your family.
You burn more kcals/fat running slowly than quick 😉
This Italian recipe is very comforting and yummy!
Cheers,
Gera
GreedyRosie
Oh, my goodness, that looks great. I'm planning on roasting a chicken just to have this side dish to go with it!
I'm a big fan of homemade pestoes, but I can't have almonds - do you have anymore pesto recipes? I have a classic basil, paremsan and pinenut one but I see all sorts of things on the shelves in stores, just don't always know how to realise them in my own kitchen?
Choclette
This potato salad looks so good. Maybe if I made it I'd be able to run 20+ miles - hum!
wasabi prime
fabulous summer combo -- we've been making quite a bit of pesto from the herbs growing like crazy and a salad is the perfect way to enjoy that flavor.
Jackie at Phamfatale.com
Very original potato salad. I love the contrast in color. Need to forward this to hubby: the salad might help so he can get inspired and start being a marathoner as well. ;^)
Jean
You and your husband sound like me and my husband except that we cycle instead of run. We always have carbs because we're always hungry! 🙂
I don't eat a lot of potatoes but when I do, I like to dress them up like you did here. Pesto is a wonderful addition; I think this is great, especially with the tomato and mozzarella. Yum!
Anna
That looks lovely, such nice combination of yummy flavors. And the picture looks beautiful.
marla {family fresh cooking}
Dara, you are right, this is a great carbo loading meal perfect for a marathoner. My marathon days are over, but thankfully I still burn a lot of calories and would sure love this recipe! xo
A SPICY PERSPECTIVE
YUM! What a great idea! This is a must try!
tigerfish
Time to make myself some pesto too! Your dish is tempting me.