Purple Potato Salad

Summer has properly arrived in Oak Lawn — hot, bright, the kind of midwestern heat that feels like a physical object pressing down. The pool is at capacity by ten AM on weekends and the parking lot smells like sunscreen and wet towels. I am in the chair, watching the water, listening to the sounds of about sixty children simultaneously ignoring the "no running" rule. I have a sunburn on my forearms. I am eating very well because I am home and Patty is a person who feeds people.

Babcia Rose had us for Sunday dinner this week. She lives three blocks away in the same house she has lived in since 1968 — a brick two-flat on the south side of Oak Lawn, with a kitchen that has not been updated since approximately 1985 and is perfect exactly as it is. She made pierogi — potato and cheese, because that is the right kind — and gołąbki, the stuffed cabbage rolls, and a mushroom soup with dried mushrooms that has been simmering since Friday in my imagination and in the actual pot on her stove.

Babcia Rose is 87 this year. She moves more slowly than she did, but she made thirty-two pierogi from scratch before noon. Her hands know how to do it without her having to think. She let me seal the edges while she filled them — I have done this since I was seven years old, sitting on a stool at her counter. The dough is soft and forgiving if you have made it enough times. I have not made it enough times. Babcia Rose has made it enough times for both of us and several future generations.

After dinner she sent me home with a container of pierogi and told me to eat them with sour cream, not butter. We have this argument every time. I eat them with butter. She does not need to know this. The mushroom soup I ate standing at her stove, a whole bowl of it, before I left — because some things you have to eat right there, where they were made, where they belong.

I came home from Babcia Rose’s with a container of pierogi and a head full of potatoes — the way the filling was just soft enough, seasoned exactly right, tucked into all that hand-rolled dough. I can’t replicate what she does, not really, not yet. But I can start with the same ingredient she trusts above almost any other, and this purple potato salad is my version of that tribute: simple, honest, built around a potato that doesn’t need to be anything other than what it is. It’s not Sunday dinner at Babcia’s — but it’s mine, and it starts in the right place.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs purple (Peruvian) potatoes, scrubbed and halved or quartered if large
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more for boiling water
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1/3 cup red onion, finely diced
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped (or 2 tsp dried)
2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp whole-grain mustard
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Boil the potatoes. Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold, well-salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook 15—18 minutes, until a fork slides in easily but the potatoes hold their shape. Do not overcook — you want them firm enough to hold up in the salad.
Cool and slice. Drain and spread the potatoes on a sheet pan or cutting board to cool for 10 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, slice into 1/2-inch rounds or bite-sized chunks. The purple color deepens slightly as they cool.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, 1 tsp salt, and black pepper until smooth and well combined.
Combine. In a large mixing bowl, gently toss the cooled potatoes with the celery, red onion, dill, and parsley. Pour the dressing over and fold carefully — purple potatoes can crumble if over-stirred.
Chill and serve. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors come together. Taste before serving and adjust salt or vinegar as needed. Garnish with an extra sprig of dill if desired. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Purple Potato Salad — A Dish That Starts With the Same Ingredient Babcia Rose Uses Best