No Peel Potato Salad

No peel potato salad is made from mashed potato flakes instead of cooked potatoes. It tastes the same as traditional recipes but takes far less time to prepare. It can be served either hot or cold. It is a nice side dish to have on hand for quick meals of hamburgers, hot dogs or various sandwiches. Add salmon or tuna and it is a one dish meal.

My Mother would have liked this version of potato salad. Watching her peel steaming hot potatoes was scary. Cooking the potatoes and eggs really heated up her small galley kitchen in summer. Dad loved potato salad although she didn’t make it the same as his grandmother. Dad said his grandmother had always put in bacon and dressed it with a bacon dripping and vinegar dressing. Mom always used mayonnaise and never would have considered adding bacon.

Potatoes were introduced to Europe from the New World in the 16th. century by returning Spanish explorers. Recipes for various ways to serve potatoes were developed throughout Europe. Each country and region had their own recipes. European immigrants brought those recipes with them to the Americas. Potato salad was a thrifty way to use up leftover cooked potatoes.

Potato salad became very popular in the United States in the second half of the 19th. century. It was served at home and in most restaurants. German style potato salad is served warm and contains bacon, onion, mustard and has a vinegar dressing. Other types of the salad are served cold. Until the 1940s most recipes for potato salad found in cookbooks called for French dressing. Now a majority of potato salad recipes use a mayonnaise based dressing.

The salad will serve 4.

No Peel Potato Salad

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup plus potato flakes or buds (enough to make a stiff batch of potatoes)
• 1/3 cup of diced onion
• 1/3 cup of mayonnaise, more if needed
• 1 tablespoon of prepared mustard, heaping
• 1 tablespoon of sweet pickle relish, drained
• 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper
• 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced

Directions

Cook and peel the eggs. Dice the onion.

Put the water and salt in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the pan from the stove. Add the onions (stir in later for less intense flavor). Stir in the potato flakes. Let stand a minute and add a few more tablespoons of flakes at a time until the mixture is stiff.

Add the mayonnaise, mustard, pickle relish and black pepper to the potatoes. Stir well. Stir in the sliced eggs but keep some slices to garnish the salad.

Serve at once or cover and refrigerate until needed. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Notes

Your favorite seasonings can be added. Paprika, red pepper flakes, horseradish, dry mustard or garlic. Parsley, tarragon, and other herbs can be used.

On a hot day the water and salt can be heated in the microwave.

Crisp crumbled bacon can be added to the salad or used to garnish it. The pickle relish should be left out if you do. You can cook the onions in the bacon fat until tender for added flavor. Drain well before adding the onions to the salad.

Diced celery, cucumbers or sliced radishes can be added.

If you have some leftover cooked vegetables they can be added, about 1/4 cup or so.

Well drained canned salmon or tuna can be mixed into the salad.

Potato salad is nice served on tomato wedges or slices. It can also be served on crisp lettuce leaves.

A few tablespoons of sour cream can be mixed in with the dressing.

Cubes or shredded cheese can be added to the salad or on top of it.

A French version would include a vinaigrette containing Dijon mustard and tarragon.

A German version would include bacon, mustard and onion. There would be a small amount of bacon drippings in the dressing.

Diced red and green bell peppers can be added. Diced tomatoes can also be added. Sliced black olives can be mixed into the salad.