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Purple Potato Salad with Pickled Red Onions & Feta

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Purple Potato Salad with Pickled Red Onions & Feta

Roberta Reynolds
Here’s a Potato Salad for the adventurous. We take a sharp right turn from tradition, and use purple potatoes for color. Then we get a little crazy with feta cheese, juicy green olives, scallions, pickled red onion and a mustardy, lemon vinaigrette. Fresh oregano and edible flowers top it all off. Check it out.
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 6 -8 servings

Ingredients
  

  • FOR THE SALAD:
  • 5 pounds of purple potatoes steamed and sliced in half if small in fourths if larger.
  • ½ pound feta cheese crumbled into large pieces
  • 1 cup of Castelvetrano Olives pitted and halved (or pitted and halved Kalamata olives if you prefer)
  • ½ cup green onions sliced on the bias
  • 1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves or Italian parsley
  • 2-3 tablespoons fresh edible flowers (optional)
  • FOR THE PICKLED RED ONIONS
  • 2 large red onions peeled and cut into very thin slices & rings separated
  • Teakettle full of boiling water
  • 2/3 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 2/3 cup cold water
  • 1-2 teaspoons red peppercorns
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • FOR THE LEMON VINAIGRETTE
  • I cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • Zest of one large lemon
  • 3-6 tablespoons lemon juice to your taste
  • 2-3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • FOR THE POTATOES
  • Steam potatoes over high heat until just tender when pricked with a sharp knife. Set aside to cool. When cool, peel (the peelings should slide right off), and cut into small, ¼ -1/2 inch cubes. Drizzle with just a little olive oil to keep moist. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use.
  • FOR THE PICKLED RED ONIONS
  • Place onion slices in a colander in the sink. Pour boiling water over the top to soften.
  • Rinse with cold water, then place in a glass or other non-reactive bowl.
  • Combine water and rice vinegar. Pour rice wine vinegar and cold water over the top (this should cover the onion slices).
  • Gently stir in salt and pink peppercorns.
  • Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
  • When ready to serve, cut into 1-inch slices or whatever size you like best.
  • FOR THE VINAIGRETTE
  • In a small bowl, combine the garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, and Dijon Mustard.
  • Slowly whisk in the extra virgin olive oil, and keep whisking until emulsified.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.
  • TO ASSEMBLE:
  • Place potatoes on an oval platter.
  • Sprinkle green onion, feta cheese, pickled onions, olives, and fresh oregano over potatoes.
  • Drizzle dressing over all. Top with edible flowers. Serve immediately.

Funky. Pretty. And a nice break from an everyday Potato Salad. This guy is full of just-tender steamed purple potatoes, fresh oregano, sliced Castelvetrano olives, feta cheese and super-easy to make pickled red onions. Let’s not forget the edible flowers if you happen to have any hanging around. Top it all off with a lemony, mustardy vinaigrette and you’re in business. How about we jump right on into the blog and get this party started?

You won’t believe how easy these pickled red onions are either. It takes about 10 minutes to put the whole works together, and they keep in the refrigerator for several days since they are, after all, a pickle now.

Focusing on the salad itself for a minute, it’s really simple and quick to put together. It’s almost better to get the parts all taken care of the day before. You can even go so far as to assemble the whole thing, and just pour on the dressing right before serving. I know – looks aren’t everything, but ain’t he pretty?

Besides the salad, you can use these pickled onions on sandwiches and as a nice side to barbecued chicken. I like to add red peppercorns just because I think they look nice, but you can also use regular black ones with no problem.

Right before serving, lay everything out on a platter and get your dressing going. The one thing to look out for is that these potatoes are dressing soaker uppers, so I think it’s best to serve each portion up and dress it right there on the plate.

OK then. Enough said. Let’s dig in. Happy holiday week everyone! Thanks so much for reading today!! xoxoxox OH! Almost forgot – if you’re looking for a more traditional style potato salad, just click this link and check out our Old Fashioned Potato Salad – either one’s winner.

Hello. I’m Roberta Reynolds.

I’m so glad you dropped in! Welcome to Bird’s Nest Bakery and Café, a collection of ‘made from scratch’, seasonal recipes developed in my home kitchen. I’ve been obsessed with creating the easiest and most delicious recipes possible since I could reach the top of a stove.

I hope you’ll find this site a welcome and relaxing place where you can come for inspiration and ideas. Take a look, have fun, and feel free to modify these recipes to suit your particular palate. It would make me so happy if you would share these recipes with friends and family. After all, cooking and baking are meant to be shared with those we care about. That’s what’s so much fun about it!