Hold onto your seats.
Saturday (puke day) we got to spend with my brother, nephews and parents - I shamelessly invited us over for both lunch and dinner since I wanted to squeeze in the maximum amount of visiting time.
Not being entirely without a social conscience, I brought the salads in question.
Salad One: German Potato Salad? (<----Me being funny about "salad in question". Get it?)
I started out making this when we were first married, and have slowly been messing with the recipe ever since. I'm confident that by now, ten years later, no one except my family would recognize it, least of all the Germans.
| 6-8 large potatoes | 1 tsp kosher salt |
| 6 slices bacon | a few grinds of pepper |
| 1 bunch chopped chives | 1/3 c water |
| 2 Tbsp sugar | 2/3 c vinegar |
| 2 Tbsp flour |
Cut up and boil the potatoes until just soft enough that you want to eat them in potato salad, however soft that is for you. Drain water and set aside.
Meanwhile, cut up the bacon and fry until crisp. Remove (saving all that lovely bacon fat in the pan) and drain. In the bacon fat, saute the chives until they're wilted (not black. Never black). Add the flour, sugar, salt, and pepper, and stir until combined.
Slowly stir in the vinegar and water, making sure that there are no lumps. Keep stirring over medium heat until thick and bubbly.
Pour sauce over potatoes, and toss together with the bacon pieces.
Serve hot, warm, or cold.
Salad Two: Quinoa and Chickpea Salad? (<----See how I kept the joke going there? I'm still laughing.)
You know when you have those "I have quinoa and chickpeas in the refrigerator and don't want to waste them" moments? Or maybe the "I want to bring more than one thing to my mom's house because I've just invited my very hungry family of four over for two meals" moment?
Sure you do.
In any case, the solution is to take some quinoa (cook it first, please), take some chickpeas, chop up some spinach and mint or something else green and preferably vegetal, and pour in some Italian dressing that you also have in the fridge. Or - if all you have is a half inch of Russian dressing, make your own oil & vinegar dressing with - I don't know - some oregano or something?
You'll figure it out.
