springy green potato salad with ramps & snap peas
This recipe showcases ramps, a wild leek only available for a brief window in the spring, in two ways. With blanched, bright green leaves, and pickled bulbs. If you can’t get your hands on any ramps, try this with scallions and garlic using the recipe note below for an equally delicious, equally green potato salad.
yield 4 servings
1 bunch ramps (about 4 ounces)
4 ounces snap peas, trimmed
1½ pounds peewee or baby gold potatoes (the smallest you can find!)
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
½ cup distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
½ cup Greek yogurt
⅓ cup mayo (or more yogurt!)
½ cup coarsely chopped parsley
¼ cup coarsely chopped dill
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 cup arugula, packed
3 sprigs worth of mint leaves, thinly sliced
if you don’t have ramps
use 1 bunch of scallions and 1 garlic clove. Treat the white/light green parts of scallions and garlic clove as the ramp bulb/stem and the dark green parts of scallions as the ramp leaves.
recipe prep
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Trim root ends from ramps, then separate the ramp bulbs and stems from the leaves
In a small saucepan, combine ½ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, and ½ cup vinegar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add ramp bulbs and stems. Boil for five minutes, then remove from heat and set aside to cool for at least 15 minutes.
Alternatively, combine the sugar, salt, and vinegar in a heatproof bowl and microwave until sugar is dissolved, 30–60 seconds. Add ramp or scallion bulbs and return to the microwave for 60 seconds.
Once the water is boiling, fill a medium bowl with ice water*. Add ramp leaves to boiling water for 15 seconds, then immediately transfer to ice bath. Add snap peas to boiling water for 1 minute, then transfer to ice bath. Add potatoes to boiling water, then reduce heat to simmer. Cook until potatoes are easily pierced with a knife, 15–20 minutes. Drain, then cool slightly.
Meanwhile, gently squeeze some of the liquid out of the ramp leaves, then transfer to the bowl of a blender. Add yogurt, mayo, parsley, dill, mustard, pickled ramp bulbs and 2 tablespoons of the pickling liquid. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl.
Halve cooled snap peas crosswise. Halve potatoes. Add both to bowl with green sauce and toss to coat. (The sauce will thicken as it sits and cools, so at this point you can stick it in the fridge for a bit if you want it to firm up a little). Add arugula and toss to coat. Sprinkle with mint before serving.
*if you don’t have any ice, put the bowl in the sink under coldest running water possible
do it ahead make the potato salad a day ahead, without arugula or mint, and store in the fridge, then toss with arugula and top with mint just before serving.
