Potato Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

I've had a few requests since I started Lisa's Kitchen for nutritional information, recipe suggestions and food tips. I'm honoured that folks are seeking my advice, and I'll continue to answer your questions to the best of my abilities. I'm looking forward to the day when this site will become a virtual culinary reference stop.

Recently, my friend Darin was wondering if I could recommend any good potato salad recipes. I'm a little late meeting his request, but I couldn't resist trying this Potato Salad with a Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing that has been adapted from a recipe printed in the Summer 2007 edition of Food and Drink. Tested and approved by Lisa. Possible variations would include substituting feta cheese for the the blue cheese.

Potato Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing

For the salad:

1 1/2 pounds of potatoes, about 4 large potatoes
3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
1 red pepper, cut into slices
2 green onions, thinly sliced

For the Blue Cheese Dressing:

1/3 cup of mayonnaise
1/3 cup of sour cream
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
a few dashes of hot pepper sauce - or a dash or two of cayenne
1/2 - 3/4 of a cup of crumbled blue cheese, or feta
2 green onions, finely chopped
salt and pepper for seasoning

Peel the potatoes if desired and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Place in a large pot of water with a little salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, partially cover and cook until the potatoes are just tender. Drain well, cool for a bit, transfer to bowl and toss the warm potatoes with lemon juice.

To make the dressing, whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, hot pepper sauce and / or cayenne pepper. Stir in the blue cheese and green onion. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the potatoes are cool, add the red pepper and green onions to the bowl. Stir in the dressing and sprinkle the entire salad with a bit of paprika. Garnish with bits of green onion tops and a small amount of crumbled cheese. Served chilled.