Summer’s here and so is the June Daring Cook’s Challenge!!

I was driving to work the other day and the weather forecast was being read on the radio. And this is what they said – “Cooler temperatures today, with a high of 106F”. That’s when I knew summer in Phoenix has arrived. So when the daring cooks challenge for June was announced, it fit in perfectly with the rising summer temperatures. A healthy potato salad!!! I have never been a fan of the mayonnaise laden potato salads that are so common. So I decided to create my version of a potato salad, healthy and fresh!!!

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

I chose to make a potato and chicken sausage salad with a lime-garlic-basil dressing. The chicken sausage is optional, I added it in because I found these interesting jalapeno-mango chicken sausages, which I thought would go well with the potato salad. And they added an awesome twist to the potato salad. This recipe serves 2 and takes about 1/2 hour to make (most of the time is spent in roasting the potatoes).

Ingredients:

1. 20-25 small red potatoes (halved with skin)
2. 1 jalapeno-mango chicken sausage (sliced and cooked)
3. 1/2 cup chopped green onions (only the green part)
4. salt to taste
5. 1/4-1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
6. 2 tbsp olive oil

For the dressing

1. 1/8 cup olive oil
2. 1/4 cup lime juice
3. 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
4. 1/4 tsp black pepper
5. salt to taste
6. 2 cloves chopped roasted garlic
7. 1/4 – 1/2 tsp red chili flakes

Directions:

• Mix the potatoes with the olive oil, salt and black pepper.
• Roast it in the oven till the potatoes are cooked through.
• Mix the cooked chicken sausages, potatoes and green onions.
• Mix all the ingredients under ‘For the dressing’ in a grinder.
• Mix the dressing with the salad and serve it warm.

I promise, you will love it. The dressing adds a fresh zing to the potato salad. And the sausage is completely optional. I loved it though as the sausage added an interesting twist to the potato salad.