Greek Potato Salad

Mid-June, the summer solstice arriving Thursday. The longest day. I've been marking it every year with the walk: the full property tour at dusk, the light going golden and prolonged, the farm at its best in the long evening. The solstice walk is a ritual I started the first year after Helen died and have done every year since. Nine years now. The walk is the same and I am different, incrementally, in the ways that nine years produce.

Made cold cucumber soup — the first of the season's cucumbers, combined with yogurt and dill and garlic. The solstice soup, the dish that requires this exact week to taste the way it should. I ate it cold on the porch at seven in the evening in the long June light and felt nothing but the rightness of the moment. Some things just are what they are and asking more of them is the wrong question.

Carol reported: the Japanese maple in the memorial garden has grown six inches since planting. The iris bloomed this week — three of Helen's blue, exactly the color Carol had chosen. Carol sent a photo. I looked at it for a long time before putting the phone down. Blue iris in a garden in May in Vermont, the lilacs just past them. Helen would have said: the iris are too close to the lilac, you need more separation. She would have been right. Next year we'll move them. Some things you have to see in person before you know.

The cucumber soup was the right thing for that particular evening — the first cucumbers, the long light, the porch — but the dish I keep coming back to when the solstice table needs something cold and unhurried is Greek Potato Salad. It has the same quality I was after that night: a little sharp from the lemon, herbaceous from the dill, something that holds its flavor whether you eat it at six or at nine. Helen would have approved of any dish that rewards patience and doesn’t ask you to rush the evening. This one doesn’t.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min (plus chilling) | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, halved and pitted
1/2 cup cucumber, diced small
1/3 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the cooking water
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Instructions

Boil the potatoes. Place potato chunks in a large pot and cover with cold salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook 15–18 minutes until just tender when pierced with a fork — do not overcook. Drain and spread on a sheet pan to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
Make the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, salt, pepper, and dried oregano until smooth and combined.
Combine. Add the cooled potatoes to the bowl and toss gently to coat. Fold in the olives, cucumber, red onion, and cherry tomatoes.
Add the finishing ingredients. Scatter the crumbled feta, fresh dill, and parsley over the top. Toss once more lightly, leaving some feta visible on the surface.
Chill before serving. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Taste and adjust lemon, salt, or dill before bringing to the table. Serve cold.

Nutrition (per serving)

Greek Potato Salad — A Solstice Table, Long Light, and Something Cold Worth Eating