Potato Salad -- a lighter version, always a crowd pleaser

We have been trying our best to enjoy the last bit of New England summer lately -- having one or two cookouts plus game nights every week, occasional trips to the vineyards, or just hanging out and have dinner on the porch. Group gatherings usually involves sharing food, and potato salad has always been a safe and welcomed dish to bring along with us for sharing.

Not long ago, I acquired a great bag of potatoes from the farmer's market, and turned parts of it into a delicious potato salad to go with an end-of-the-summer grill.

The recipe was adapted from the food network, with a bit of a twist to make it slightly lighter and healthier.

First, boil some beautiful potatoes in salted water for about 20 minutes. I did not even measure the amount of salt. Just a dash.

When they were cool enough to handle, peel the skins off with your hand -- it was fairly easy, as the skins were already semi-attached. Then chop them up into bite size.

It is OK to leave small pieces of skin on. No biggies.

My sauce/dressing was a bit different. Instead of 1/4 cup of buttermilk and 1 cup of mayonnaise, I used 1/4 cup of homemade buttermilk (milk + white wine vinegar) and 1 cup of home made non-fat yogurt (made with 0% fat plain Chobani ). Add dijon mustard and whole grain mustard, some salt, pepper, and paprika. I didn't have fresh dill at hand, but just bought a bunch of fresh parsley, so that was what I used instead (1/4 cup).

Chop up some onions and parsley (about 1/2 cup each). Combine everything and toss.

By substituting yogurt for the mayonnaise, this recipe saved about 1365 calories for the entire dish (averaging 170 calories/serving, 8 servings total). The cost may be slightly higher but with the home-made goodies, it is not even more expensive!

And nothing beats a good barbecue with friends!