Summer Potato Salad

Prepare yourself for the crazy amount of recipes that are about to appear on this blog.

Most will be cupcake recipes from my marathon baking day on Thursday, but before I drown you in sugar I wanted to share a light, summer potato salad that I tried out and loved.

I found this recipe last week when my dad asked me to make a side to go with our steaks that he was grilling. My mom is a firm believer that baked potatoes are the only appropriate pairing with a steak, but with the warm weather I wanted to add a spin on the traditional potato. This recipe comes from Sheryl Crow's cookbook (If It Makes You Healthy) and I heard that if you eat only this for an entire week then you will look just like her...

I also found the recipe here.

I love red potatoes and the other vegetables and light dressing created a perfect summer salad.

Not to mention that it was a breeze to throw together and put in the refrigerator to cool so that I could spend more time helping my dad grill. Which consisted of me complaining about the smoke and promptly giving up on my attempt to learn how to grill. I knew there had to be something that I didn't enjoy about cooking.

Luckily I aced the salad and my dad aced the steak. We make a great team like that.

Red Potato and Sweet Corn Salad

2 1/2 lb. unpeeled red potatoes, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 cups sweet corn
1 cup diced celery
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil (don't forget this, it adds so much flavor!)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Toss potatoes and onion with canola oil in a bowl; season with salt and pepper and spread evenly on baking sheet.  Bake until crispy yet fork-tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.  Cool to room temperature.  
Return to bowl, add corn, celery and garlic powder.  Whisk olive oil and vinegar in a bowl, drizzle over potatoes and onions; toss to coat well.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.  Stir in fresh basil before serving, enjoy!

This calls for a picnic.