Healthy Recipe: Potato Salad With Cornichons and Capers

FitSugar — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 03:30:00 -0700

It is Labor Day weekend, and that means barbecues to celebrate the end of Summer. Potato salad is a barbecue staple, but this dish doesn't need to be laden with high-fat mayo.

This potato salad features a red wine vinegar and mustard vinaigrette, with salty capers and cornichons (the French version of gherkins) for added flavor. Capers may be tiny, but nutritionally speaking, they pack quite a punch for their size. These little green olive-like nuggets of flavor are not only high in antioxidants, but they also inhibit the formation of by-products created in the digestion of meat that have been linked to an increased risk of cancer and heart disease. Remember, to reap all the nutritional benefit of your potatoes, don't peel your spuds, and boil them whole.

To see the recipe, just read more.

Potato Salad With Cornichon and Capers
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Ingredients

2 pounds small red potatoes, uniform size as much as possible
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots chopped fine (about 1/3 cup)
10 cornichons (small French pickles like gherkins), rinsed and sliced into thin rounds (about 1/4 cup)
4 tablespoons capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

Cover potatoes with water in a medium saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until tender, 11 to 15 minutes. Drain potatoes, reserving 1 tablespoon cooking water. Halve the potatoes; quarter them if they're large.
Make the vinaigrette: Whisk together vinegar, mustard, and reserved cooking water in a small bowl. Gradually add oil, whisking until emulsified. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl, and drizzle with vinaigrette. Add shallots, cornichons, capers, parsley, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper. Using a large spatula, gently stir to combine.

Serves 6

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Analyze This: Nutrition Data Recipe Feature

FitSugar — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:00:00 -0700

If you have a recipe that you've followed for years, but are not quite sure how it stacks up nutritionally or calorically, then I have an answer to your query - or at least a website for you to check out. One of my favorite healthy eating sites, Nutrition Data just created a new feature for analyzing recipes. After entering your ingredients by pulling them from the website's database of food, Nutrition Data creates a very complete analysis of the recipe, from fat content to sodium content and everything in between.

I just analyzed my recipe for Potato Salad with Cornichon and Capers. While the recipe is high in vitamin C, it is also very high in sodium. Darn those salty capers and pickles! If you have the time, because looking up all the ingredients for a recipe can be a bit time consuming, this is a fun and useful tool. After analyzing my potato salad, I am going to decrease the salt and double rinse the capers and cornichons.