I’m a potato addict, love my ‘spuds’ as we call them in England, these faddish no-carb diets wouldn’t ever work for me. When I am tired of mayonnaise laden potato salad, I do it grilled style. The first time I did a grilled potato salad was with oranges and feta for a poolside kebab night with friends a few years ago. I have been doing different versions ever since. Scallions and thyme are often sold tied together in Jamaican markets and are the cornerstone “seasoning” ingredients in Jamaican cookery.
Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish.
Ingredients
- 500 g Irish potatoes, skins scrubbed and washed and cut into thick rounds
- 250 g String beans, trimmed
- Vinaigrette
- 2 tbsp white cane vinegar
- Juice of ½ a large lime
- 2 tbsp pickled and sliced banana peppers from a jar, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 50ml extra virgin olive oil + extra for brushing
- 1 fat sprig of fresh thyme, stripped
- 3 scallion stalks, green parts only, finely sliced
- Crumbled feta to taste
Method
- Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking vinegar, lime juice, pickled banana pepper, garlic and extra virgin olive oil. Set aside.
- Place potato rounds into a large pan with cold salted water, bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. During the last 2 minutes, add the string beans. Remove from heat and drain.
- Once cool enough to handle brush the vegetables with enough olive oil to coat.
- Grill in batches on a stovetop grill pan or on your hot BBQ.
- Add vegetables to a bowl with chopped scallions and pour over half the vinaigrette and toss.
- Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle with crumbled feta and garnish with fresh thyme and drizzle with remaining vinaigrette.
Jacqui ‘JuicyChef’ Sinclair, founder of Nyam & Trod, is a British Jamaican award-winning chef, writer, and food culturist. She is a co-founder of Kingston Kitchen, an annual food event supporting food artisans. Jacqui has been an advocate of the Meatless Monday Global movement in Jamaica since 2011. Jacqui’s work has been featured in such publications as the Huffington Post, the Jamaica Observer, Saveur, The Jewish Post and numerous blogs. She has appeared on the Travel Channel’s ‘Bizarre Foods’ with Andrew Zimmern and Food & Wine’s Jamaica episode with Kwame Onwuachi.