I must be on a salad kick because post after post is a salad of some kind. But salads don’t have to be boring. I made a salad out of crispy smashed potatoes with chimichurri as a dressing! After all chimichurri is just vinegar, oil, and herbs… That’s dressing, people! My favorite kind of salad lately has been a mustardy potato salad with no mayo. But what happens when we mix crispy potatoes with chimichurri instead and put it with some arugula? Magic.
Let’s get started on this crispy smashed potato salad. It’s a few steps, but it’s so worth it. It goes like this–boil your potatoes, flatten them, then bake them til crispy. Whiz up the chimichurri in a blender. Bake your corn and cut it. Then char the poblanos. Throw it all together for a magical salad. This is the order I did things. Here we go.
Start by putting your potatoes in a small pot and cover them with water. Bring them to a boil, and once boiling, set a timer for 15 minutes. Boil them until tender. Then drain them. Set aside to cool. While the potatoes are boiling, bake the corn in aluminum foil packets for about 20 minutes.
Add your arugula to a salad bowl. Cut the corn in half and then cut the corn off the cob. This is the trick to getting your corn closer to the cutting board and not all over your counter. Add the corn to the arugula.
Once your potatoes are boiled, smash them with the side of a knife or a frying pan and put them on an oiled baking sheet. Drizzle with more oil and salt and bake for 15 minutes before flipping them and baking another 15 minutes until crispy. While this is baking, make your chimichurri.
Since this is also serving as a dressing, I added half a bunch of cilantro with the stems, 1 garlic clove, 1 shallot, lime juice, a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar to a food processor or blender. While this blends, pour in a third cup of olive oil through the vent. This should be a bit runny.
Add your crispy smashed potatoes to a bowl and set aside.
We need to char the poblanos. You can move your oven rack to the top six inches of the oven and preheat your broiler to high. Then place your poblanos on a baking sheet. Char them for a couple minutes on each side until spotty and blackened. Then remove them from the oven, turn off the broiler, and cut them in half, removing the seeds with a knife and spoon. Slice them thinly and add them to the salad.
Toss the potatoes with HALF the chimichurri you made in the bowl. Then pour them into the salad. Crumble on the cotija cheese, pour on the remaining chimichurri and toss it all together to coat. How good would this be with a fried egg on top? See the full recipe below.
- 3 ears of corn
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- 1 lb baby waxy potatoes such as dutch potatoes or red potatoes
- ½ bunch of cilantro with stems
- ⅓ cup olive oil, plus some for drizzling
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 1 shallot, peeled and halved
- juice of 1 lime
- 3 poblano peppers
- 5 oz arugula
- 1 cup cotija or queso fresco cheese, crumbled
- Preheat your oven to 425 F.
- Shuck the corn and place each ear in a medium size piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap each ear. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roll up in the foil, sealing the ends. Bake on a baking sheet for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, wash your potatoes. Put them in a medium pot and cover with water by a half inch. Bring the pot to a boil. Once boiling, set a timer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Drain and let them cool slightly.
- Drizzle a large baking sheet with olive oil. Using a flat surface such as the back of a large knife or a frying pan, smash each potato to about a ½ inch thickness. Put them on the baking sheet in a layer. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Once corn is done, remove the corn and bake the potatoes on the center rack for 15 minutes. Flip them over and bake another 15 -20 minutes or until potatoes are crispy and browned on the outside.
- To make the chimichurri, in a food processor or blender, add your cilantro, vinegar, garlic, shallot and lime juice along with a couple pinches of salt. While the blender is running, drizzle in the ⅓ cup olive oil through the vent hole until you get a runny consistency. Set aside.
- Once your potatoes are cooked, mix them together with half the chimichurri in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Preheat the broiler to high. Place your poblanos on a baking sheet and put them six inches from the top of the oven until blackened. Turn once and blacken the opposite side, watching carefully. These will cook fast.
- Slice the poblanos in half and remove the seeds. Thinly slice the peppers.
- Add arugula to a large salad bowl. Cut the corn off the cob and add this to the salad. Add the poblano slices, potatoes, and crumbled cotija. Drizzle on the remaining chimichurri and give the salad a toss. Serve immediately.
Leave a Reply