Roasted Garlic & Red Skin Potato Salad

Roasted Garlic & Red Skin Potato Salad

I made this Roasted Garlic & Red Skin Potato Salad and absolutely fell in love with it. Then again, I tend to love anything with roasted garlic! I was heading over to my mom’s for the weekend so I brought some over to to share. My 12 year old nephew Christian was there and he is not a big fan of new foods (if you haven’t noticed, that seems to be a running theme in my family!), but I asked him to try it. He hesitated at first, because it doesn’t look like the yellow potato salad he normally gets from the deli. I pleaded with him that I needed his feedback and once he realized his opinion was going to be valued, he was all about it. 🙂

To get started, preheat your oven to 400°. Take your 4 heads of garlic and slice the tops off so each clove is exposed. (This is important, if you leave some cloves intact, they will be difficult to get at later.) Place them on the sheet of tinfoil, cut side up, and use the 1 Tbsp of olive oil to rub over the entire head. Be sure to cover them thoroughly, so they don’t burn. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and fold the tinfoil into a packet to enclose the garlic completely. Place in the oven and bake for 60-90 minutes until the cloves are a deep golden-brown. It may seem like four heads of garlic is a lot for one batch of potato salad, but when you roast garlic, it sweetens and mellows the garlic flavor drastically.

Once the garlic is done cooking, remove it from the oven and it should be a beautiful golden brown color. Squeeze each head from the bottom to release the individual cloves. (Use an oven mitt to protect your hand if you are impatient like myself, otherwise just wait for it to cool.) Dice or mash the cloves, so they will blend well into the dressing.

While the garlic is baking, clean the potatoes and chop them into 3/4″ size pieces. In a large pot of salted boiling water, (It is important to generously salt your boiling water, because this is where the potatoes will get some of their flavor) add the chopped potatoes and boil for about 8-10 minutes until they are fork tender. (You should be able to stick a fork through the potato without meeting resistance from a hard, raw portion.) When they are done, drain the potatoes and then promptly return them to the pot they were cooking in. This will allow them to steam for a bit and remove any excess moisture.

Chop the bacon into 1/4″ pieces and add to a hot frying pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes until bacon starts to brown and then add the diced onions. Cook for an additional 8-10 minutes until the bacon is crispy and the onions are browned.

Add the cooled bacon and onions to a large bowl with the potatoes, celery, green onions, bell pepper and hard boiled eggs.

In a separate bowl, combine the mayonnaise, dijon, vinegar, salt, pepper and mashed roasted garlic. Mix well and spoon on the top of the potato mixture. Gently fold the dressing into the vegetables until well combined. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving.

• roasted garlic

Serving: 1 grams | Calories: 416 kcal | Carbohydrates: 25 g | Protein: 15 g | Fat: 28 g | Saturated Fat: 6 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 20 g | Cholesterol: 144 mg | Sodium: 1258 mg | Fiber: 3 g | Sugar: 3 g