So I made this awesome Blackened Tilapia a while back, but didnt use all the seasoning. The leftover seasoning had been sitting on my counter in a little Ziploc container staring at me ever since. I was afraid to put it in my pantry for fear that Id forget about it and it would just be forgotten forever. Well, the strategy worked!
I got a craving for potato salad the other day and at the same time happened to glance over at the leftover blackened seasoning. BAM. Match made in heaven. To make this potato salad a little more Cajun-y, I used a coarse brown mustard and loaded it up with plenty of green onions, celery, and parsley. Now, that was just my mix of extras that I chose to put in the potato salad, but you could really use whatever you normally prefer, like relish or bacon (OMG, bacon would be so good in this). The addition of the blackened seasoning is what really takes the potato salad over the top. Its smoky, a little spicy, and it is AWE-SOME.
I used about 1 tablespoon of my leftover blackened seasoning, but you could certainly use a store bought blackened seasoning instead. Ive listed the ingredients and quantities needed to mix up about one tablespoon of the seasoning on its own, if needed.
Enjoy this awesome smoky potato salad with the last few grilling days of the summer. Its a perfect pair with grilled meat!
Cajun Potato Salad
- 212 lbs. potatoes $2.50
- 2 large hard boiled eggs $0.42
- 3 green onions $0.20
- 2 stalks celery $0.33
- Handful fresh parsley $0.15
- 34 cup mayonnaise $1.16
- 1 Tbsp coarse brown (or Creole) mustard $0.11
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar $0.08
- 1 Tbsp blackened seasoning $0.36
- 34 tsp salt $0.05
- 12 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 12 tsp cumin
- 12 tsp thyme
- 12 tsp oregano
- 18 tsp cayenne pepper
- 18 tsp garlic powder
- Freshly ground black pepper (about 5-10 cranks of a pepper mill)
- Thoroughly wash the potatoes then cut them into 1-1.5 inch cubes. Place the cubed potatoes in a pot, cover with water, then bring them up to a boil. Boil the potatoes for 7-10 minutes, or until they are very tender and fall apart when pierced with a fork. Drain the potatoes in a colander.
- Meanwhile, slice the green onions and dice the celery into very small pieces. Pull the parsley leaves from the stems and give them a rough chop. Peel and chop the hard boiled eggs. Place the onions, celery, parsley, and eggs in a large bowl.
- To make the dressing, stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, blackened seasoning, and salt.
- Once the potatoes are well drained and slightly cooled, add them to the bowl with the onion, celery, parsley, and egg. Pour the dressing over top and stir the ingredients until well combined. Slightly mash the potatoes as you stir until the salad is to your desired consistency (I prefer mine chunky). Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.
Step by Step Photos
If your eggs are not already boiled, I would go ahead and get that started first. For large eggs, I place them in a pot, cover them with water, then bring them up to a boil over high heat (no lid). I let it boil for exactly one minute, then turn off the heat, place a lid on top, and let them sit in the hot water for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes is up, I dump out the hot water and replace it with ice and cold water to stop the cooking process. Thats the secret to preventing green yolksstop the cooking with an ice bath!
I used 2.5 lbs of potatoes for this recipe, or roughly half of the 5 lb. bag that I purchased. No need to be meticulous and weigh them, just get around or near 2.5 lbs. Wash the potatoes well, then cut them into 1 to 1.5 inch cubes.
Place the cubed potatoes in a large pot, cover them with water, place a lid on the pot, then bring it up to a boil over high heat. Let the potatoes boil for 7-10 minutes, or until they are VERY tender. The cooking time will depend on the size of your cubes and probably the size of your pot.
Once the potatoes are super tender (they should fall apart when pierced with a fork), let them drain and cool in a colander.
While waiting for the potatoes to cook and cool, prepare the vegetables. I used 2 stalks of celery, three green onions, and a handful of fresh parsley. You can use any crunchy add-ins you like, the most important part of this potato salad is the blackened seasoning (in other words, you dont HAVE to go buy a whole sleeve of celery just to use two stalks for this recipe, it will still taste great). Cut the celery into a very small dice, slice the green onions, and roughly chop the parsley.
Once hard boiled eggs are finished cooking and cool from the ice bath, peel and chop those as well.
Place all of the potato salad add-ins in a large bowl (egg, onion, celery, parsley).
To make the amazing dressing, combine 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1 Tbsp coarse mustard (or Creole mustard, if you prefer), 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp of blackened seasoning, and 3/4 tsp salt. To make your own blackened seasoning, combine 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, and some freshly cracked pepper.
Stir the yummy dressing together… you cant even begin to imagine how awesome that smoked paprika is in there… mmm-MMM!
Finally, add the drained potatoes and the dressing to the bowl with the vegetables and stir everything together. Slightly mash the potatoes as you stir to help it come together. I prefer my potato salad fairly chunky, so I didnt mash a lot.
Serve immediately or refrigerate for later. YUM!
