Potato and Escarole Salad with Olive Tapenade Dressing

A Mediterranean spin on a Midwestern classic—Potato salad with escarole and olive tapenade dressing. -Chris Ciolli

This year in Barcelona, Spring is late, teasing occasionally with a day or two of sun and warm and then slipping away into damp cold and flights of rain.

And of course the late spring is affecting what’s in season. Not all local crops are hardy enough to withstand Barcelona and surrounding area’s dips into winter weather, but escarole is, and since it’s one of the things my father-in-law grows, I’m fairly drowning in it.

So far we’ve had tons of variations on escarole in salad (Greek, caprese, caesar) as well as pasta with escarole, soup with escarole, and my husband’s favorite so far, escarole, potatoes, and hard-boiled eggs, tossed with homemade olive tapenade dressing.

This recipe is tasty and super-simple, and a nice, lighter alternative to the mayonnaise-and-mustard-laden potato salads that are so typical to summer gatherings in the midwest.

Olive Tapenade Potato Salad with Escarole and Hard Boiled Eggs – Chris Ciolli

Ingredients Potato and Escarole Salad (serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side)

• 4 small to medium red potatoes or large new potatoes
• 2 cups of escarole
• 2 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 ½ tablespoons of black olive tapenade
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• rainbow pepper to taste

Instructions Potato and Escarole Salad with Olive Tapenade Dressing

1. Scrub the potatoes clean and boil them for 15-20 minutes until firm but not hard as a rock or falling apart.
2. Place the eggs in a small pot with cold water. Bring them to a boil, let simmer for 1 minute and then remove from heat and leave in water 12 minutes.
3. While your eggs and potatoes are cooking, make your sauce.
4. Add the black olive tapenade, garlic powder, olive oil and balsamic vinegar to a small jar, screw on the lid and shake until thoroughly mixed.
5. Chop the potatoes into chunks
6. Peel and slice the eggs.
7. Wash the escarole and drain.
8. Toss the escarole and potatoes with the dressing
9. Garnish with egg slices and freshly ground rainbow pepper.

Extra Tips and Serving Suggestions

• This is a vegetarian dish. Make it vegan by omitting the eggs and garnishing with tomato slices and pine nuts for extra protein.
• This is a gluten-free dish. If you’re using store bought tapenade to make your dressing, check the label just in case.
• If you can’t find escarole, rocket and other bitter greens make great substitutes.
• Red potatoes and new potatoes stand up better to boiling and tossing, but yellow potatoes will work okay too.
• This dish is a great summer side with grilled meat or fish.