perfect potato salad

i am officially a potato salad snob after finding this recipe. i made it a million times last summer, and now have it altered to utter perfection.

to be honest, i don't even really like potato salad that much. but this one is the end all and be all of potato salads. it is soooo goooood that once i have it prepared i never get through the rest of my meal prep without ruining my supper by sneaking forkful after forkful.

and please, use a real lemon.

and please, find real dill. even if it's 8 months old and freezer burnt like mine. it's still good! right?

and ideally, it's best if you make this ahead of time, giving the flavours plenty of time to marry. but not so far ahead that it has to live in the fridge, because the texture is sublime when the potatoes are kept at room temperature.

• 2 pounds potatoes, chopped and cooked
  
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. about a tsp of each.
  
• 2 stalks celery, diced
  
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 red onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup tightly packed, fresh dill, chopped
  
• 1/2 lemon, zest and juice. (or more if you love lemon)
  
• 1 heaping tbsp dijon mustard

never mind the vinegar, i pulled that out before i remembered that i cut it out. and i only used one of those lemons.

leave the skins on, please.


boil 'em up.


after draining, i return them to the pot that's still hot because it'll help evaporate any left over water.

i hope you have a microplaner or something similar, because the impact of fresh lemon zest cannot be understated. the finely diced onions are another nuance of this perfect salad. and in case the food network isn't your only reason for having a tv like it is mine, i'll break down the easy way of dicing an onion.

split it like this, and then peel the outer, inedible layers off, keeping the root intact.


make horizontal cuts, stopping before cutting all the way through.... the root is there to hold it all together, so don't cut through it.


make several vertical cuts across this way.


then finely, like this.


it may not have looked pretty, but the dill was still yummy.


i think i gave it another shot of dijon after this.


mix it all up.... and you would never know it's wasn't fresh dill.


and again.


PERFECT!