Enjoy end of summer produce with mayo-free Potato Salad with Bacon, Corn and Peppers topped with a honey sweet dijon vinaigrette dressing.
I stepped outside yesterday morning for the pug’s early morning walk and you guys – the weather it was truly glorious outside. I’m pretty sure the words this is AMAZING came out of my mouth. A cool breeze was in the air, the temperatures were hovering somewhere in the mid-60’s, no sweat was pouring down my back (TMI?!) and sweet whispers of fall were rustling through the trees.
Fall doesn’t officially start for about another month but I’m all for this little tease in the weather we have right now. The early mornings and evenings is just the start of absolute favorite time of year.
Of course while I’m all for ushering in the fall weather, I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to late summer produce. Which is why you’ll still see tomatoes, corn and peaches here until the end of September instead of pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin (which I’m pretty sure has started to creep all over Pinterest at this point).
Don’t get me wrong, pumpkin, squash and fall foods have their place but just not yet.
If you ask me, there’s real no wrong time of year to have potato salad. I’m firmly in the no-mayo camp style and I think it lends itself to all flavors of the season. Served warm or cold it also makes a relatively easy weeknight side dish that doesn’t need to be relegated to weekend barbecues or picnics.
This potato salad loaded with bacon, corn and peppers was put together on a whim one night when I was trying to make use of items floating around my refrigerator. I loved the combination so much that I just couldn’t wait to put it all together again. You’ve got crunch from the bell peppers and red onion, sweetness from the corn and tender baby potatoes. Plus everything is better with a little bacon! It may seem like a lot of ingredients at first but honestly everything gets chopped and mixed together while the potatoes and corn boil away.
In fact if you really wanted to, you could grill everything for an extra end of summer bonus.
As for that dressing – it’s just a simple dijon vinaigrette sweetened up with a touch of honey to take the edge off the vinegar and sharp mustard.
Easy, peasy and delicious!
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 -2lbs assorted baby potatoes, halved
- 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice
- 1 small or half a medium red onion, diced
- 2 ears fresh corn
- 3 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a large pot and fill with water until the potatoes are covered. Bring to a boil and season generously with salt. Cover the pot and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Before draining the water in about the last 2-3 minutes of cooking, add in the 2 ears of corn.
- Drain both the corn and potatoes in a colander and run cold over over the stop to cool down and stop the cooking process.
- Once the corn is cool enough to handle remove the kernels with a sharp knife.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the honey, dijon mustard and white wine vinegar. While whisking, slowly pour in the extra virgin olive oil and continue to whisk until you have a thick emulsion. Season with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Add the diced bell peppers, red onion, corn, potatoes and chopped bacon to the bowl. Toss to coat with the dressing, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
- Potato salad can be served warm, at room temperature or cold.
- Store leftover salad in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Before serving leftover salad, let sit out for about 10-15 minutes to loosen the dressing to mix again.
