Potato salad with green beans and toasted buckwheat
When potato salad RSVP’d to the Christmas table this year, it decided to ditch the predictability and come in a fancier guise. Enter this sweet mustard-dressed number, with its crunchy green beans, nutty toasted buckwheat, soft eggs, and bursts of fresh dill. It’s hearty but fresh, earthy but bright—a salad that’s happy to play wingman to the glazed ham, sizzling steaks, roast pork, or even a whole baked snapper. Toasted buckwheat lends a fabulous crunch, while the tangy-sweet mustard dressing makes every bite addictive. This is a spud salad that knows how to turn heads and prove that tradition can be just the starting point for something a bit more memorable. And when we say ‘tradition’, we’re looking at you, Bavaria. In that part of Germany, they like their mustard sweet, not pungent, and they consume copious amounts of it with their beloved weißwurst (white sausage), pretzels, roasted meats, and even on cheeseboards. Bavarian Hausmachersenf (translating to ‘homemade mustard’) is notably sweetened with sugar or honey, which is why we’ve suggested adding honey to this dressing to sweeten it up if you can’t get actual Bavarian mustard. In which case, use a milder mustard like Dijon, and just add your honey to taste – there are no wrongs or rights here.
SERVES 6
800g baby red-skinned potatoes, halved
400g green beans, trimmed
60g (⅓ cup) buckwheat
6 eggs, soft-boiled and peeled
Handful flat-leaf parsley leaves and dill fronds, to garnish
Sweet mustard dressing
1 egg yolk
80ml (⅓ cup) red wine vinegar
3 tbsp sweet Bavarian, or other mild mustard
2 ½ tbsp honey, if needed
200ml olive oil
1 bunch dill, fronds removed, chopped
Cook the potatoes in boiling, salted water for 15 minutes or until just tender. Drain, then leave to cool in a colander.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil for the beans, and fill a large bowl with iced water. Cook the beans for 3–4 minutes or until tender, then drain well. Transfer to the iced water to cool, then drain the beans well again. Pat dry using paper towel, then set aside.
Heat a small, heavy-based frying pan over medium heat, add the buckwheat, then toast, shaking the pan occasionally, for 6–7 minutes or until the grains are deep golden and crunchy. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
For the dressing, combine the egg yolk, vinegar, mustard, and honey, if you’re using it, in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Whisking constantly, drizzle in the oil and whisk until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in the dill.
Slice the potatoes, then add them to the dressing with the beans. Toss to combine, then transfer to a serving plate or platter. Halve the eggs lengthwise and arrange over the salad. Scatter over the buckwheat, parsley, and dill, then serve.
