An Inspired Cook

I’ve discovered a potato salad that I absolutely love.  It comes from Rick Bayless and combines new red potatoes with roasted poblano’s and a homemade mayonnaise that is out of this world. The flavors of the southwest really stand out in this potato salad.   This would be a perfect side dish for your Memorial Day weekend and pair up perfectly with any grilled burger or brat.  I can tell you it was fantastic alongside our Raspberry Chipotle Steak Salad.

For the salad dressing you’ll need 2 poblano peppers, garlic, green onion tops, fresh cilantro, an egg yolk, olive oil, rice vinegar and salt.

I picked up these red potatoes at the farmer’s market.  It took about 10 potatoes to make 1 1/2 pounds.  Also needed some olive oil, salt and pepper.

I roasted the garlic and poblano peppers under the broiler at 500 degrees.  The garlic will be roasted and soft after 10 minutes.  Rotate the poblano’s often so that they blister on all sides about 20 minutes.

Place the garlic and poblano’s in a plastic bag to sweat it out.  After about 15 minutes take the poblano’s and peel and seed them under running water.

Place your potatoes in a bowl and drizzle olive oil until all potatoes are coated.

Sprinkle a generous amount of salt and pepper and shake the bowl to coat.

Place the potatoes on a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil.  Drizzle any remaining oils from the bowl onto the potatoes.

See how they are coated with oil, salt and pepper.  Now roast at 375 degrees for approximately 30 minutes turning after 15 minutes.

Chop the poblano peppers.

One poblano will go in the salad and the other to flavor the mayonnaise.

The roasted garlic will easily slide out of the outer skin.

Place one diced poblano pepper, the roasted garlic cloves and egg yolk into a blender.

Add 1/4 cup rice vinegar.




And 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Blend it together and stream in 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup olive oil creating a smooth mayonnaise.




This mayo was smooth and flavorful.  This would work well as a sandwich spread too.




I chopped 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro and 4 green onion tops plus the poblano pepper that will go into the salad.




I poured about 1/2 cup into the chopped veggies and gave it a good stir.




My potatoes were a little bigger than bite size so I cut them into quarters and tossed with the sauce.




Gently toss the potatoes with the mayo and veggies.  Sprinkle some cooked bacon pieces over top.




It’s ooh soo good when it’s freshly made and warm.  But I could eat it anytime!


Roasted Poblano Potato Salad (adapted by Rick Bayless)

1 1/2 pounds small Red Potatoes
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
2 Poblano Chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded
4 Garlic Cloves, roasted
4 Green Onions, thinly sliced, green part only
1/4 cup Fresh Cilantro, roughly chopped
1 Egg Yolk
1/2 – 2/3 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Rice Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 slices cooked Bacon pieces

Roast the poblano and garlic under a broiler at 500 degrees.  After 10 minutes remove the garlic and place in a plastic bag.  Rotate the poblano’s often until charred on all sides about 20 minutes.  Set aside in a plastic bag to steam. To remove outer peel, place under running water to easily peel away.  Remove outer skin from garlic.

Drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper potatoes and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees.  Turn after 15 minutes and return to oven for an additional 15 minutes.  Potatoes are done when fork tender.  Remove to cool.

To make the mayonaise, place one chopped poblano pepper along with the roasted garlic, egg yolk, rice vinegar and salt in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  While the blender is running, stream olive oil until you have a smooth mayonnaise.

If needed, cut potatoes into bite size pieces. Blend together remaining chopped poblano, cilantro and green onion in a medium size bowl.  Add 1/2 cup of the poblano mayonnaise.  Gently toss the potatoes in with the salad dressing.  Top with bacon pieces.  Salt to taste.

Cover and refrigerate if not using immediately.