Pretty in Pink Potato Salad

I am IN LOVE WITH THIS. I was so inspired when my husband took me to The End of The Line Cafe in Pensacola, FL by their mysterious "pink potato salad" that he insisted we get as a side dish. The salad was light and delicious.. a vegan spin off of traditional potato salad without added crap in it and with a baby pink hue to it. I assumed they used beets in it to get the color. I couldn't find a good recipe for "vegan pink potato salad" despite looking hard, so I just created by own by combining beets and potatoes into this light and guilt free picnic essential. This salad would be the perfect go-to for a potluck recipe (it sure will draw attention!).. a great side dish for a baby shower for a baby girl, for a Valentine's Day party, breast cancer awareness event, little girl's (or big girl's!) birthday party.. the list goes on and on. You can make and eat it any time you just want a fun and natural pop of color to your meal. I had so much fun with this and mine came out much more vibrant the the salad I had gotten at the cafe and I absolutely love this bright pink color. I tried to keep this low-key and simple, so it's pretty easy to make and throw together in under 20 minutes (plus some down time to cool/refrigerate-- no one wants hot potato salad!) Enjoy this one, and let me know how it turns out! It may be one of my favorite things I've made recently :)




Ingredients:

about 8 small sized potatoes, any variety
4 small beets
2-4 stalks of organic celery
¾-1 cup of "just mayo" (my new favorite vegan mayonnaise!) or another vegan equivalent
1 tablespoon apple cider or white vinegar
1 tablespoon honey dijon mustard (any other variety should be fine too)
salt and pepper to taste

Wash your potatoes and beets and cut them all into small chunks (I cut about 2-3 cuts one way and 3 another to get several small chunks). Put them into a steamer basket in a pot and add about 1-2 cups of water. Steam for roughly ~20ish minutes, stabbing with a fork or knife around 10 minutes to check in case they're done sooner. Both potatoes and beets should be soft and easy to slice when ready).

Drain the potatoes and beets and allow to cool. Mix together your cream sauce by hand mixing the mayo, vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper. Mix well until well combined, and taste test to see if you want to adjust any ingredients to your liking. Chop up your celery stalks into several thin slices.

Put potatoes and beets in a large bowl and add chopped celery. Add all of the mayo-based sauce on top and mix everything together with a large spoon. The warm beets should start to turn the potatoes and sauce a bright pink color.

Put bowl of salad in the fridge for 20 min at least to help it cool down until ready to serve. If you need it in a rush you can put it in the freezer (but don't use a glass bowl in the freezer). Mix again, as the cool temp should have helped the beet's color leach more into your entire dish. When ready to serve, add more salt/pepper to taste and enjoy!