Tammy's Recipes

Tender potato and sweet potato chunks combined with crisp cucumber bites, sliced red onions, and corn tossed with a lightly sweet lime and cilantro dressing

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed
3 small Russet potatoes, peeled or scrubbed, and cubed
1 medium red sweet onion, cut in half, and thinly sliced in half-rings
1 large cucumber, peeled if desired, de-seeded, and diced small
2 cups fresh raw corn cut off the cob (I freeze raw corn in the late summer for this), or frozen corn
4 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons prepared Dijon mustard
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 tablespoons of peanut oil (or olive, or vegetable, etc.), depending on your taste
1 tablespoon honey (optional)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place Russet potatoes in medium saucepan and add water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to boil; add 1/2 tablespoon salt, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring once or twice, just until potatoes are tender, about 7 minutes.

2. Steam the sweet potatoes in a separate pan about 4 minutes, or until just tender. They will be done much sooner than the white ones. Don't overcook!

3. If you are using frozen corn, drop it in the water of the Russet potatoes when they are basically done and cook for 30 seconds. Fresh raw corn need not be cooked.

4. Drain both potatoes and corn and rinse well with cold water until cool. Place in a large bowl along with the cucumber and onion.

5. In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, and the honey (if using). Slowly whisk in oil (sometimes I leave the oil out and just use more lime juice for a fat free dish).

6. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and gently toss. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve room temperature or chilled, adding the chopped peanuts just before serving.

This recipe and the ingredients photo were submitted by reader Dana.

Dana writes, "Do not substitute ingredients in this salad, and don't leave anything out either... the special combination of ingredients really makes the whole shebang work! You can modify amounts of cilantro, onion, and dressing to taste, but don't omit anything.

"If raw onions are too strong for you, try blanching them in the boiling potato water for 30 seconds with the corn. This will take off the 'bite', but still allow the flavor and crunch to come through."

(Photo courtesy of Dana)

"I have taken this dish to potluck and picnics and usually come home with an empty bowl."

See Dana's blog post about this recipe!

This is a really yummy, really different potato salad recipe! The colorful ingredients make it fun to eat, and if you're a fan of cilantro, you'll love the flavor!

I tried to take Dana's advice about not making any substitutions in this recipe After all, it's not really fair to say I've tried a recipe when I didn't even have half of the ingredients!

Since I wasn't sure if my sweet potatoes were big enough to be called "large", I ended up using 4 smaller ones, about 1.5 pounds total. I used Butter Red potatoes and a VERY large cucumber. I like milder dressings, so I thought that even with a huge cucumber and perhaps an extra sweet potato, it tasted just perfect.

As with any potato salad recipe, the doneness of the potatoes is crucial. I watched my potatoes very carefully and ended up with tender chunks that didn't mush.

I have a little stainless steel steamer insert that fits inside a pan with a lid. (I think I got the insert at a dollar store one time.) I brought some water to a boil, steamed the sweet potatoes, and then removed the insert and dumped my butter red potatoes into the hot water to cook them. This way, I only had to heat up water one time.

I also cooked the onions with the butter red potatoes. I don't like strong/raw onions in most things, and one medium onion is quite a lot, in my opinion, to eat raw! ;) I cooked the onion for more like 5 minutes rather than 30 seconds.

I thought I had frozen corn, and I did -- but not enough. I added some canned corn for the rest, and thought it still tasted really good.

I love garlic, but I thought that using three cloves made the salad a little too hot for my liking. Maybe my cloves were too big. The second time I made this, I cut it back to just two cloves, and it was better, but I think next time I will try just one.

I really packed my 1/4 cup of cilantro. I love cilantro and wanted lots of it! Yum! And, I did use the optional honey.

Now, if that all doesn't sound complicated... :) This is a great summer salad recipe that's easy to make (just lots of chopping!) and has a great unique flavor. My 16-month-old loved it (without the peanuts, of course ;D). Personally, I love trying new things and this is an excellent recipe that I don't feel guilty about eating!