Butterball Potato salad with Green Beans & Thyme

This recipe is modified from a recipe in Annie Somerville’s Everyday Greens. If you serve this recipe at a picnic, I predict that people will be neglecting the burgers. Or do like we do, and just make this salad and another vegetable or salad to go with it, like grilled zucchini or the carrot & mint salad with currants. I like a high proportion of green beans to potatoes, but if you’d prefer the salad to be heavier on the potatoes, use fewer green beans.

2 pounds garlic-roasted potatoes (recipe follows) garlicky red wine mustard vinaigrette (recipe follows) ½ medium red onion, minced (about ½ cup) red wine vinegar 1-2 pounds green beans, cut into 1” pieces 1 ½ tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained ½ tablespoon fresh thyme, coarsely chopped, or ½ teaspoon dried thyme

1. Make the garlic-roasted potatoes. 2. Make the vinaigrette. 3. Bring a pot of water to boil and salt lightly. Place the onions in a small bowl and scoop a little boiling water out of the pot, just enough to cover them. Let the onions soak for 30 seconds, drain, and toss with ½ tablespoon of the vinegar. This takes away the sharp bite of the onions, but leaves great flavor and crunch. 4. Drop the green beans into the boiling water and cook until just tender (2-5 minutes). Drain the beans and immediately spread them out on a baking sheet spread with a dishtowel. (This allows extra water to evaporate, and the beans stop cooking almost immediately.) 5. Transfer the roasted potatoes to a large bowl with the onions, capers, thyme, and several large spoonfuls of vinaigrette. Add the green beans just before serving (so their color won’t fade from the acid in the vinaigrette) and adjust the seasoning with more vinaigrette, salt, pepper, and/or a splash of vinegar, if needed. 6. If you’ve made enough for leftovers, only add the green beans to the portion you’ll be serving right away, to keep them nice and green.