Mexican Potato Salad

 I get a little bored of the same lunch day in and out. A regular at our house is a salad sandwich with whatever deli meat I have available. They taste delicious, they are filling and good for you, however on the weekends when we have a bit more time, I like to have something a little more exciting. Something that isn't wrapped in a bun- Salads. The fact that Max ate lettuce from a very early age made is so much easier to be creative with salads. When Alex came around he wasn't so keen on any lettuce, or tomato and now he is adding potato and squash to that list. I figure I'll do the same with him as I did with Max- serve it anyway!

Much to my pleasure Max has decided after years (6 to be exact) of dry reaching whenever he sees it, potato in now OK and he has begun to eat it without complaint- see perseverance does pay off! 

Anyway I decided to make a potato salad for lunch today. I thought about how my Mexican friends use to make it in the kitchen for staff meal (comida) when I worked at Campagnola. They would dice carrot and potato into a small dice, add green peas and then fold it through mayo. A very simple potato salad but it would always be served with tortillas, pulled meat (mostly pork) guacamole and some kind of hot salsa- oh I do miss those meals!

I didn't have all the ingredients to make the grand feast so I thought I'd make a potato salad with a Mexican twist. Knowing Alex doesn't like potato I decided to serve the salad with tortillas stuffed with cheese and then lightly seared to melt the cheese- more like a quesadilla. 

A plate of salami was also added to the lunch which complimented the salad and quesadillas beautifully. 

Mexican Potato Salad

8 'new' potatoes, quartered

1 carrot, peeled and diced (same size as potatoes)

1 corn cob, kernels removed

2 Tbs mayonnaise

1 Tbs cilantro (coriander), finely shredded

1 tsp salt flakes and a couple good grinds of black pepper

juice of half a lemon

In a large pot add diced potatoes, carrot and corn kernels. Fill with cold water until half an inch over vegetables then turn stove on HIGH and bring to the boil. 

Once boiled reduce temp to MEDIUM and simmer for 8-10 minutes. When potato is tender, drain veggies into a colander and pour cold water over to quickly cool vegetables (once is fine). 

While potatoes, carrot and corn are still warm (but not super hot) add mayonnaise and stir to combine. 

Just before serving add cilantro, salt & pepper- stir to combine. 

To bring back an extra colour burst squeeze the lemon juice over the salad (which will remove some mayo and bring out the color of the actual vegetables). 

Serve warm with tortillas, pita bread or bread rolls and what ever deli meat you like.