I love this healthy potato salad because it reminds me of picnic season; which always makes me happy.

When I was a kid my mom loved (still does) packing food down to the beach, or sitting under a trees thick cool shade, or on a blanket in the garden for meals.

Picnic style.

So beautiful, and such a simple adventure that can make kids feel like something amazing is happening.

Well, this simple nightshade and dairy free potato salad hits all the good things for me.

Fresh herbs, simple ingredients, packs easy.

;)

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Ingredients

• 1 Large sweet potato, peeled, cubed, and steamed for about 7 - 10 minutes, depending on the size of your cube! Keep an eye on them because they steam up pretty quickly and nobody wants a mushy salad.

  • See note below for some extra thoughts and preferences.

• Handful of fresh dill

• 2 TBSP dijon or other grainy mustard

• 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar

• 2 TBSP olive oil

• Pinch of sea salt and some cranks of fresh cracked pepper

  • A few extra thoughts — I prefer to use the white sweet potatoes for this particular salad, but I have made it with orange and purple and they are delicious as well.

  • Feel free to use regular potatoes! I love them but sweet potatoes are easier for me to digest at this point, plus, it’s good to switch things up. Both are nutritious and delicious: Regular potatoes are high in potassium and sweet potatoes are high in vitamin A… among other things of course.

  • I like to try and steam veggies because in general when things are cooked IN water they can lose a good amount of their nutrients INTO the water. Which is great if you’re making soup — but not if you’re not.

    I also find that steaming potatoes results in a more consistent cooking situation.

  • Switch up the herbs! Use fresh basil, parsley, or even watercress. Or a combo of whatever you have on hand. I also love to stir in some chives and a few good handfuls of arugula or finely sliced dandelion greens! Whatever you have growing in your yard combined with whatever looks good at the market. :D

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Instructions

1. Cook the sweet potatoes by following my long winded advice up top.

2. While they’re cooking finely chop the herbs and toss into a good size bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together with a fork.

3. Strain the sweet potatoes. Feel free to run cold water over them at this point if you would like your salad cold, or just dump the warm potatoes into the bowl with the dressing and stir it up… little darlin’.

4. At this point feel free to mix in any greens that you might want to add.

5. Enjoy.

   Preferably on a beach with some grilled veggies, some quality protein, and a chilled glass of white. ;)

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Tips and Serving Ideas

I love this for lunch, served with a boiled egg or some leftover protein.

It’s also delicious with grilled steaks and corn on the cob, or simple roasted chicken and some asparagus or green beans.

Or have it with a green salad, some grilled veggies, and sprinkle each serving with a good TBSP or 2 of hemp hearts to have a delicious plant based meal that comes together in under 30 minutes.

I love this salad and so do my kids.

It’s super healthy, nightshade free, dairy free, AND still has that classic summer picnic vibe that I love.

Let me know how it works out for you, and please share with your friends if you loved it.

Thank you,

Gwen

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A Short Story

When I was a girl I lived with my mom and brother on the edge of a deserted island.

Ok ok, there we other people that lived on it, but not where we were.

It was wild and filled with adventures, and ultimately where my love of food and cooking began I think.

My mom wasn’t overly passionate about making the perfect sauce, or balancing flavours for optimal pleasure. She actually mostly cooked in a way that was about ensuring maximum nutrients from simple ingredients.

Growing up I didn’t love it.

But so often my mom used food to bring us together in a sort of mini celebration.

She would make an average Tuesday feel special by randomly loading us into our canoe with our fishing rods, some tin foil wrapped potatoes, and a few random things. Off we would go to catch our meal and sleep under the big star filled sky on a neighbouring beach.

Or she would insist (still does) on packing food down to the beach to eat our meal with our toes in the sand and watching the sun set into the coastal mountains.

Or retreat into her garden filled with magic and dancing shadows and singing birds; because it has to be better for our digestion to eat outside, where the air is cooler and the plants are growing.

I think in the midst of all that I fell in love with food, and how it connects us to moments in life.

How a simple potato salad can create a flood of memories.

It makes me think about where I can bring my kids to have our next meal.

Does food do that for you?