I was going to put up a recipe for my favorite “old fashioned” potato salad for the 4th of July.  It’s really good, with chunks of cheddar, smokey bacon bits and chopped dill pickles, but then I got inspired by something unexpected.  While I was on vacation on the Central Coast, we spent a day in the perfect little beach town of Cayucos.  We went specifically for the cookies (Brown Butter Cookie Company), but on a recommendation from my friends, Rory Ann (who happens to be a fabulous cook) and her husband, Brein (who happens to be the fantastic chef who inspired me to create my winning Gilroy Garlic recipe), we stopped by Ruddell’s Smokehouse for some smoked fish.

Photo credit: rockofthecoast.com

O.M.G. This is all I’m going to say about Ruddell’s fish: it is absolutely the best smoked fish I’ve ever tasted.

So here’s my recipe.  If you don’t have any smoked fish handy for this recipe (smoked salmon works great, too), you can certainly use a good quality canned tuna, or cooked fresh albacore, or any other cooked fish that you want to try!  Poached salmon works well, too.

Happy 4th of July!

Printable Recipe

Potato Salad with Green Beans, Pea Shoots and Smoked Albacore

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs small yellow potatoes
8 oz fresh green beans, stem ends removed
¾ cup mayonnaise
1 TBSP Dijon mustard
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP lemon juice
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp garlic powder
2 TBSP fresh chopped dill, divided
2 TBSP fresh chopped flat leaf (Italian) parsley, divided
¼ cup chopped red onion
¼ cup pitted, chopped Kalamata olives
3 hardboiled eggs, chopped
4 oz fresh pea shoots, or other fresh sprouts (optional) (Trader Joe’s has them!)
5 oz smoked albacore, smoked salmon, or other cooked firm fish, broken apart

Directions:

Cut potatoes in half and cook in salted boiling water until cooked through (10-12 minutes). Drain and cool.

Cook green beans in salted boiling water until tender-crisp. Drain and cool.

Next, make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, 1 TBSP each of the dill and parsley, and the red onion.

To assemble the salad, in a large bowl combine the cooked and cooled potatoes and green beans. Add the dressing and toss to combine. Add the remaining ingredients and toss gently.

Serve 4