Johanna's Chipotle Potato Salad

This smoky zesty dish is named for one of my middle daughter, Carissa’s, best friends from Canyon Del Oro High School in Tucson, AZ, Johanna Ingram. She was at our house one morning as I was experimenting with adapting my chipotle pasta salad to a potato salad recipe. Johanna loved the result so much that she asked me to provide it for her high school graduation party. So, it bears her name.

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Johanna’s Chipotle Potato Salad


3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/8 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. coarse black pepper
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. minced garlic (two large cloves)
2 chipotle peppers (with a little of the adobo sauce if desired)

3-4 pounds potatoes for salad
1 1/2 cup grated parmiggiano reggiano, asiago, or romano cheese (or other similar cheeses)
5 sun dried tomatoes
2-3 oz. fresh spinach (preferably baby spinach), stemmed
1 small to medium red onion, finely diced


Cover the whole potatoes with cool water. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer until a fork easily pierces them, about 20-30 minutes. Drain the potatoes and let them cool until you can peel them and cube them into approximately 1inch cubes. It’s best to do this job when the potatoes are still so hot you can barely handle them. When warm, the potatoes will absorb more of the dressing and thus the flavor.

While the potatoes are cooking, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, coarse black pepper, Dijon mustard, garlic, and chipotle peppers in a blender and puree into a smooth dressing.

When the potatoes are cubed, fold 1/2 to 2/3 of the dressing into the potatoes while they are still warm and let stand for 15 minutes. Cut the sundried tomatoes in half lengthwise, stack and julienne. Roll the spinach and cut into a chiffonade. Chop the strands roughly into thirds. Sprinkle the red onions, sun dried tomatoes, spinach, and cheese over the top of the potatoes. Pour the rest of the dressing over everything. Squeeze the lime juice over that and mix thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.


Dale Savage May 2003