My website isn’t the only thing having a little work done lately.
Yes, that’s my gutted kitchen, and it’s getting made over too.
First and foremost, I am grateful for the opportunity to put myself and family through such discombobulation. Really.
Our temporary kitchen is located in the home office. For temporary digs we’re lucky because we have a refrigerator down the hall, a freezer in the garage, and a convection oven, microwave, toaster, and hot plate behind my desk.
The pantry’s on a bookshelf. We wash dishes and produce in a bathroom sink. And I feel pangs of guilt from the paper products we’ve sent to the landfill. This is all standard-issue for anyone who’s lived through a kitchen renovation.
I’ve enjoyed the creative process that got us to this point. And it’s been fun to watch the progress. The slab has been trenched in two places for plumbing. A wall has been removed. AC ducts have been re-routed and electrical has been upgraded.
But I miss cooking and entertaining friends and family. I continue to misplace my cell phone and keys. I’m not drinking near enough water because the ice maker’s been disconnected and the “cold” water that runs from the tap is burning hot this summer. Yet, when the job’s complete and I’m cooking on the new range or hosting a dinner party, I will have forgotten how unsettling and agonizing this part was. Like having a baby, I suppose.
One night my husband smoked some ribs and I made this easy potato salad using the microwave. I’ve found it’s much easier to cook the potatoes in the microwave, instead of boiling them on the stove top as I would typically do for a potato salad.
This is a French-style potato salad with an acidic dressing and no mayo. Crumbled bacon makes a nice addition to the recipe, too.
Enjoy! -alyce eyster
- 4 large red-skinned potatoes, skins on
- 1 lemon, juiced and zested
- ⅓ cup chopped mild onion
- 1 Tblsp red wine vinegar
- 1 Tblsp Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup olive oil
- handful Italian parsley, chopped
- 2 slices cooked and crumbled bacon (optional)
- salt, pepper and red wine vinegar (optional) for taste
- Nuke the potatoes on full power in the microwave 3-4 minutes. Turn them over and cook again for 3-4 minutes. Let them cool, then cut into thin slices and place them in a large bowl. Sprinkle the fresh lemon zest and chopped onion on top of the potatoes.
- Make the vinaigrette by combining the lemon juice, vinegar, Dijon, garlic and salt. Slowly whisk in the oil.
- Pour the dressing over the potatoes (you might not need it all). Sprinkle with the Italian parsley and crumbled bacon, if using. Gently fold with a spatula.
- Season with salt and pepper, then taste for seasoning. At this point you might want to add a bit of vinegar if you prefer more acid, as the potatoes really soak up the dressing.
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Visiting from SITS – I can’t wait to see your finished product! We’ve been in some form of remodeling since we bought the house last year. We’re getting ready to expand so we can have a master suite – I am psyched. Am almost finished with our kitchen (looooong drawn out project and down to grout and staining the cabinet doors) and I love cooking in my new space! I am so used to him remodeling I think I may have trouble once everything is completed!! What? No sheetrock dust in my coffee??
I’m so jealous, I so want a new kitchen! But I’d want it finished in a day obviously and they’d have to be tidy!! You potato salad sounds perfectly light with no gloopy mayo, much more elegant.
I really hope you get back you kitchen soon and you can enjoy some cold water. Drinking hot water in this heat .. can be very frustrating! This potato salad sounds nice and light and there is no Mayo which is awsm.
Tastes great mom!!!!
I am amazed by how much that doesn’t look like a kitchen. š I’m also impressed that you could pull together that beautiful sounding potato salad without a stove. Great job! It’s just hard to wrap my head around the fact that you’re cut off from REAL cooking for so long. I’d be gnawing on my hot pads or something.
I have a bunch of gold potatoes Iām looking to use up and this would be a perfect recipe! Good luck with the renovations! Just focus on the end product when you start to lose it…been there, done that! š
I am sure you will love your kitchen when it is done! Hard to wait for it though! At least you have found a way to make some good food while going through it!
This is SO exciting! I can’t wait to see you kitchen when it’s complete!
It is amazing you can come up with delicious meal without a kitchen. I love to look at kitchens. Can’t wait to see your new kitchen.