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June 6, 2015

One seriously representative - and very tasty - 1950s potato salad recipe


Vintage loving soul that I am, I can't help but have a special spot in my heart for yesteryear recipes that not only telegraph the era they hail from, but which shout it out, loud and proud, from the rooftop!

Typically these sorts of foods include a combination of ingredients that seems a touch dated to the average diner, but which we as vintage fans have a deep respect and adoration for, even if they're not exactly what we're plunking down in front our families each night these days.

Chances are such dishes, when they hail from the 1950s and are of a savoury nature, are apt to include at least one of the following things: mayonnaise, hard boiled eggs, pickles, olives, mushroom, pimentos, tuna, and/or celery, to name but a few iconic ingredients of the age.

Today's vintage recipe for hearty, delicious sounding Ripe Olive Potato Salad hails is from 1952 and houses five of those very ingredients, a point that made this passionate old school epicurean smile ear-to-ear.



{Talk about a meal in a side dish! This lively, flavourful mid-century potato salad combines pickles, olives, pimentos, mayo, and a handful of other ingredients with spuds to create a stick-to-your ribs potato salad that is bursting with 1950s charm. Vintage recipe image source.}


I fully get that this combo of ingredients might not elicit squeals of delight from everyone, even though I do think they harmonize together fairly well. By all means, pick, choose, and disregard as needed. Being allergic to eggs, I need to skip the hard boiled ones here and use GF vegan mayonnaise (the vegan offerings from Follow Your Heart are by far my favourite store bought options on that front), and would likely use cucumber over celery, as I have an easier time with it, but aside from that, I'd totally give it a go as is.

If I wanted to switch things up a bit though, I might ditch some of the veggies (pickles included), leave the black olives in place and use some sun dried tomatoes and marinated artichoke hearts for a thoroughly Mediterranean influenced potato salad, or maybe some black beans, corn, and cilantro for a fun Southwestern take on this staple summer side dish.

Potato salad is a seriously versatile food that you can play around with endlessly, making it as mid-century or present day as your heart desires. You can even sub in sweet potatoes, yams, taro, sunchokes, parsnips, or rutabagas for the standard spuds themselves.

As summer is but a stone's throw away, picnic, grilling, camping, and al fresco eating season in general are all starting to really hit their stride, so I wanted to share this delightful, adaptable vintage potato salad recipe - which really does scream 1950s in the best kind of culinary way - with all of you here today, on this gorgeous sun-kissed Saturday.

With lots of family events, birthdays, barbeques and other enjoyable events in the cards throughout the next three to four months, I know that dishes like this great mid-century offering will be a common sight on our table - be it indoors or out - and one that I'm really, really looking forward to, as I rarely make cold pasta or potato salad during the snowy half of the year. That’s baked, mashed and roasted spud season! :)

32 comments:

  1. I'm not sure I quite understand the post. The recipe sounds delicious as it is. people often laugh at my recipes that are dated anywhere from 1888 to 1937. I've also had on a few occasions people not dare to touch my dish when I had taken them to potlucks etc. is it because of real ingredients? The way it's made? I don't get it. I really don't and people don't realize they actually sadly mar me when they laugh at me and ask me if I really eat/cook "old fashion". Oh well, never mind! Thanks for sharing a lovely recipe!

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  2. Potato salad is a summer must great find
    Retro rover

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  3. I love potato salad, I must make this one! It's really nice of you topost this recipe, thank you Jessica!

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  4. Yumm. I make combinations like this dish all the time. The vintage twist is added delight.

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  5. Fantastic to take to an afternoon barbeque!

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  6. I can see how that works, thanks for sharing

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  7. Know someone who loves potatoes salad? Hee hee hee, nice to meet you, that's me! So, I loved the recipe - but like you said you would ditch some things, I would as well. I don't eat tuna or pimentos, but pickles yes, boiled eggs, and, mmm... I would go easy on mayo. But I love many variations of potato salads. Ah, I love olives! It's true, there are some things that really belong to an "era". In England I got to know that a certain baked Alaska and wrapped tuna dish were such a success in the 70s, for dinner parties ;) I loved knowing about this salad, thank you so much!
    DenisesPlanet.com

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    1. Hello my fellow potato salad enthusiast! Thank you very much for your great comment. You're totally welcome! Baked Alaska is amazing!!! Unfortunately a few years ago I developed a serious (though thankfully, not deadly) allergy to eggs and alas have had to avoid them entirely ever since. If someone granted me the ability to eat them again, I'd have a mountain of scrambled eggs with cheese then a whole Baked Alaska to myself! (Or at least I'd try! :D)

      Thanks again & have a fabulous Sunday,
      ♥ Jessica

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  8. potato salad is a summer staple at ours - but usually we leave off the mayonnaise. olive oil and vinegar (balsamico red or white) gives a lighter note which is better for the hot days. and as you say - there are lots of versions of cause, whatever it´s on hand :-)
    <3 <3 <3

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    1. I love lighter versions, too - they can be very Mediterranean at times, especially if you turn to things like olives, sun dried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts marinated in oil and spices, so that's always a hit with my Italian hubby. :)

      Big hugs & many thanks for your great comment,
      ♥ Jessica

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  9. Hello Jessica!
    How are you? I have just returned from a short trip and I'm so hungry! Then I step out of your blog and I find this wonderful recipe ...
    ;***

    serena

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  10. I would eat it as is. Potato salads are a classic! I learnt to love them at my grandparent s table. Lovely memories x x

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    1. Same here, especially from my paternal grandparent's kitchen. They were huge on barbecuing and all the scrumptious sides (including salads make with ingredients straight from their own lush garden) that went with it. I often long for those sunny, simple days of my childhood and the stick-to-your-ribs dishes at Grandma's house.

      Wishing you a marvelous summer ahead, my sweet friend!
      ♥ Jessica

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  11. This sounds exactly like my potato salad. I often add grated or diced carrot too. But olives are a must, and pickles are delightful, and hardboiled egg is awesome, and celery is important too. Bam that's literally my potato salad. :-P

    -- Tegan

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    1. Great suggestion, dear gal! Shredded/grated carrot in potato (and cold pasta) salads is such an awesome touch! I love the whisper of sweetness it imparts.

      Wishing your a fabulous summer!
      ♥ Jessica

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  12. Good morning, Jessica. :)
    Reading this recipe, I realized that, yet again, we just think we live far away.. but the cuisine and recipes like this one prove otherwise. You see, not only do I know this dish (delicious, yummy), but have eaten it over and over agan. With a slight change: over here, instead of olives, we use peas.. and we call that "Russian salad"
    Believe me when I say:
    1. There is no traditional feast without this on a table.
    2. All folks have their variations and
    3. It is NOT a salad to me - it's (by it's contents) a full-on meal.. and I love it! :)

    Thank you for sharing.
    I hope someone tries it out - I recommend it.

    Marija

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    1. That sounds amazing! I love peas and potatoes together - and we both know what my next potato salad is going to feature now!

      Thank you very much for the great suggestion and for your wise words about how closely we're all connected through our dinner tables. :)

      Tons of hugs & happy weekend wishes,
      ♥ Jessica

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  13. I would leave out the olives, I don't like them, and I do try them every second year, but I never think I will be that adult. And I would also change the celery to cucumber, then it would make a perfect side dish to a barbecue dinner. With a little chicken in it could even go for lunch. I've just come home from my tiny summer cottage. I went there alone since the men in the family are on their annual motorcycle tour. My sister and mom were also there since they were alone too. It was really cosy, and I also worked my butt off clearing the weeds, so I can relax next time we go there. :) In five hours I'll have my colleagues for "nail night", which we have moved to a Sunday afternoon, I am so excited, because they all love it and look so much forward to it. We'll talk and laugh a lot, my friend and I will paint their nails, we'll have take away steak and that's it. Wishing you a lovely Sunday too, I wish you could be part of the nail fun. :)

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    1. Olives, I've long found, are one of those foods that folks either adore or loath (much like raisins). I'm a massive fan myself, especially when they're not too brine-y, but know plenty of people like yourself who can't stand them. Agreed, this would rock as a meal-in-a-bowl with some chicken or other lean meat. Great idea!

      I hope that you're having a relaxing, fun weekend (minus the weed pulling), my sweet friend.

      Oodles of hugs from sunny Penticton,
      ♥ Jessica

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  14. Potato salad is one of my absolute favourite things about summer barbecues - in fact, I'd say I look forward to a homemade potato salad more than anything else that's on offer from the grill itself! This one looks great - I love the olives and eggs together; it's almost a nicoise, but without the tuna and green beans. Yummy! x

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    1. Wonderful point, dear CiCi, it really does have an appealing nicoise vibe. One could easily add in tuna and green beans and channel that completely (I know Tony for one would love that to bits!).

      I hope you have a seriously sunny summer filled with lots of days made for meals that centre around warm weather classics like this.

      Big hugs,
      ♥ Jessica

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  15. This actually sound delicious as is to me! I'm a bit of a potato salad freak (I'm the person at the barbecue who skips dessert in favor of more potato salad), and this sounds deliciously salty and savory. I do like your suggestions for edits, though, the southwestern version sounds great too.

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    1. I'm the same way - especially if GF pasta salad is involved! :) Summertime sides are some of the tastiest, most refreshing foods around in my books.

      Thanks for your great comment, lovely lady. Have a fantastic week!
      ♥ Jessica

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  16. Love potato salads :) not a big fan of olives...

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    1. No worries, Monica, I am and will happily eat them all for you! :D

      Thanks for both of your lovely blog comments yesterday, dear gal. Have an awesome week!

      ♥ Jessica

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  17. To me, potato salad is just so mid-century anyway. Like the whole family cookout picnic with ladies in dresses and dads grilling, pitchers of lemonade and white picket fences. And summertime. The cool refirdgerator salads that accompany cooked meats and vegetables so well on a warm summer night. Though I have to say, I've never heard of olives in it! How smart, and it makes me wonder how it would taste. Certainly unusual to what I'm used to, but possibly very tasty!

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    1. So long as one likes olives, it's soooo good!!! I've been making summer pasta, rice, potato, and bread salads (on top of veggie ones, that is) with olives for many years and highly recommend the combination (especially, to my own personal tastes, with black olives).

      Big hugs & countless joyful summertime wishes!
      ♥ Jessica

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  18. So many food items I either do not like or flat refuse to eat, all in one dish, hehe! I will eat eggs if they are in something, are free range and hidden, like in a cake, but if it is there and looking like eggs, my stomach turns, and heaven forbid I had to prepare them, hence why I haven't purchased eggs in years.

    I hope your weekend was a wonderful one and that Monday is treating you well xxx

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  19. I love these blog posts! And I love potato salad for bbqs too! x

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    1. Thank you very much, sweet dear. I love these posts, too, and I must say, I'm very happy that they're continuing to prove popular with my wonderful readers. I've noticed that some ongoing series/themes aren't as big here as they once were (and I plan to weed those out, focusing more on areas that are currently very well received), but vintage recipes continue to hold their ground and that makes me a very happy camper! :)

      Big hugs,
      ♥ Jessica

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  20. Really love potato salad as a great summer treat. Will be pinning this for future reference!!

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    1. Aww, thank you, honey! I adore potato salad, too. I especially like it with fresh green onions or chives - yum!

      ♥ Jessica

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