Potatoes....bring em on!

I used to be afraid of certain foods!  Yes, I did buy into the whole no carb, low carb, slow carb diet mentality for just a little bit.  My original diet, although not restricting of carbs, was still fairly low in carbs and there were even a few foods I removed, and now I confess, it was because I was afraid they would make me fat.

Potatoes for sure!  Any kind, including sweet potatoes.  Butternut squash and carrots!  Yep, I was afraid of carrots!  Peas.  Corn.  It must have been two years before I ate corn, and beans, the same, over two years.  Oh man, I remember exactly when I started eating beans!  It was the first time I stayed with my BFF Fawn Friday and it was also the first time I ever saw a pressure cooker being used!  Fawn made a pork and bean dish with onions and apples, and it was after coming home from that trip that I became obsessed with the pressure cooker, and here is the original post, Nov 2 2007; http://tracyrif.blogspot.com/2007/11/practice-makes-perfectfawns-pork-and.html.  One of the reasons I decided to add beans into my diet was because Fawn is not, or never has been fat, and she ate beans on a regular basis.....if skinny people can eat beans then they must be fairly safe!

Which brings me to these days, especially this past year.  Last summer, almost eight years of permanent weight loss later, I decided that was not going to be afraid of corn anymore.  I really started to feel bummed that another summer was passing by me and the only reason why I wasn't enjoying eating more corn was out of fear of weight gain.  So I bought tons of corn!  I made corn chowder, I added it to salads, I ate corn on the cob, and no weight gain.  Hmm...I must be on to something.

So this year it's potatoes, and really all of the other foods I mentioned. But I am so enjoying potato salad!  Becoming a part time vegetarian has a lot to do with these changes.  Once meat and other animal proteins are off the table what's left?

Potato salad is just as versatile as anything other recipe.  In fact I'll bet practically everybody makes it their own way.  I happen to like the combination of fresh green beans, potatoes with a vinaigrette dressing just as much as I like my mother's traditional sweet relish, mayo and egg potato salad.  I happen to like it more vinegar-y while Mark likes it sweeter and more onion-y.  Lately since making my own pickled jalapenos and jalapeno relish I make mine hot! I've been making it so often these days I pretty much add anything and everything fresh and crunchy that I have in my fridge!   Celery for sure, red bell, red onion, and this morning those fresh green beans I bought at the FM.

I still measure out my fat, using only 2 tbl for an entire batch.  I thin it out with vinegar and add about 1 tbl of mustard, but I don't add more mayo.  I try and use as many fresh herbs that I have on hand. This morning I only had dill, but chives, parsley and maybe some cilantro if I had it, or all of it!  The more the better as far as I'm concerned. I did stop using egg though.  If Mark or I want protein there are plenty of other ways to eat it, and this way I can eat it any day, especially my vegetarian days.

So, there you have it.  Potatoes?  Bring em on!  How do you make you potato salad....or are you afraid of a little potato?

top photo is this morning's salad with the last addition of fresh green beans.  middle photo is the first pressure cooker meal I ever made using Fawn's recipe to which I posted the link.  bottom photo is tradition potato salad (minus the egg), potato, mayo, mustard, celery red onion, herbs (dill in this case).