let’s talk about french potato salad

I can’t stand mayonnaise. I’m just not a condiment person. Or a cream sauce person. When it comes to potato salad or coleslaw, it goes to reason that I will pick a vinaigrette over a mayo or buttermilk based dressing any day of the week. My husband fortunately knows about my (strong) anti-mayonnaise sentiments so he was wise to pick Ina Garten’s French potato salad to go with our barbeque last Sunday.

Even wiser was his choice to enlist the kids with help prepping the salad. Rob had decided to add green beans and broccoli to the potato salad. Give the kids a knife and they will chop up anything. They will also snack on the raw veggies that they are cutting.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again until you cover your ears and yell “Uncle!”: kids tend to eat a greater variety of food when they help to make the food. This concept is super important to keep in mind with respect to this particular salad because the recipe includes three types of chopped herbs. Green herbs. And as any parent knows, herbs can be risky. “What is this GREEN stuff on my plate? I didn’t want that! I said I only wanted chicken!” So begins a chain reaction of I’m-not-eating-this-unless-there-are-Oreos squabbles that make any dinner less than pleasant. Even if there is wine.

Gus, not a fan of salad in any form, had two servings of the potato salad that he made. There was not a green bean or piece of broccoli left on his plate. I did not hear even a peep out of Théa about the herbs in her salad. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting Théa, she is infrequently without a very strong opinion and even less frequently quiet. On Sunday, she ate. Quietly. And the sun shone and the birds sang and there was peace.

Try the salad.