POTATO, TUNA & EGG SALAD
POTATO, TUNA & EGG SALAD
#SIAintheKitchen
Nothing screams summer more than potato salad. It’s a great dish to bring to picnics and potlucks and the perfect side for a BBQ. It’s something I don’t make very often because Costco potato salad is the absolute best but since I had a few ingredients lying around, it just made sense to me to whip it up. Of course, I had to create something with a bit of a twist. Why not combine three of my favourite salads into one? I did just that and created a Spanish-inspired potato, tuna and egg salad.
When I was Calgary, my girlfriend, Karen, and I were bar hopping (read: happy hour hopping) to kill time before our flight back home to Vancouver. We had reservations at Anju but had left plenty of time beforehand to try some of the restaurants along 17 Ave SW. We had checked Lula Bar which had pretty disappointing drinks and okay food so we hopped next door to Ox Bar de Tapas, a Spanish tapas restaurant.
Walking in, I felt a weird déjà vu: I had been here before. It used to be called Ox & Angela and I had visited for brunch with my family during my last visit to Calgary many years ago. I was happy to return because cocktails were right down my alley and the tapas was surprisingly super good.
We didn’t want to eat too much because of our upcoming reservations so ordered a couple items but one dish really stood out for both of us: it was a Spanish-style tuna and potato salad. It was creamy, slightly mashed, bright with a squeeze of lemon, and lots of smoked paprika. We were almost tempted to order another plate but held ourselves back. I couldn’t stop thinking about this salad and it was finally time for me to recreate a version of my own.
For this recipe, quality ingredients matter. Because it is such a simple salad, the ingredients really make a difference. I chose some local potatoes I had gotten from the Okanagan. Any small, waxy potato will work well in this case. I’d recommend red or new potatoes. Smoked, high-quality Spanish paprika is a must. Free-range eggs are also used here and a nice tin of canned tuna. It may seem odd that I use Japanese mayonnaise but I never really keep regular mayonnaise in my house. It was actually really good but feel free to substitute it out if you don’t have it on-hand.
POTATO, TUNA & EGG SALAD – serves 4 – 6
6 medium waxy potatoes, diced
4 free-range eggs, hard-boiled
1 (120g) can of tuna in water, drained
2 radishes, thinly-sliced with a mandolin
4 scallions, sliced
1/3 cup Japanese mayonnaise
1 tbsp yellow mustard
1 tbsp sriracha
1 tsp Spanish smoked paprika
½ lemon, juice only
salt + pepper, to taste
Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork-tender. Drain, and set aside in a serving bowl.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and mash with the back of a fork or potato masher. I like to have my potato salad half mashed and half chunky. Mash until you get the desired consistency and mix until well-combined. Chill and serve cold.