Oil and Vinegar Potato Salad and a New Addition to Our Family

I made this delicious and healthy potato salad with our grilled porterhouse steak a couple weeks ago.  We LOVE my lemony dill potato salad, but it may now be a toss up between the two.  This oil and vinegar potato salad has just a touch of cream and NO MAYONNAISE!  It’s even good without the cream if you’re lactose intolerant like my grandma, she loves the dairy free option.

Now onto important things, like the fact that our family is growing!  Check out the video below of our first day with our newest family member.

Adopting Cappuccino from Diana Johnson on Vimeo.

We made the cat a bed from a box lined with carpet scraps and covered with cement board scraps for a roof.  He loved it but a couple days later we realized he was de-clawed and became concerned about  him being out at night.  So in he came, this lovable affection starved cat that we didn’t want to name or become attached to until after our vet visit.

We were concerned about whether he was micro-chipped with someone looking for him, or old and sick with only weeks to live.  We’ve both lost our childhood pets in the past year and still feel the sharp sting of missing them.  So we wanted to be sure this cat would be ours before giving our hearts away.

Fortunately we already knew Dr. Jow the local vet so we shot him an email with questions before our appointment.  Meeting with him put all our concerns to rest and by the time we left Cappuccino was named and ours.

Owning a pet is a good step towards parenthood.  Cappuccino is a smart cat, he’s 7-9 years old but often acts like a human child.  His bed, food and litter box are in the laundry room and we’re trying to decide how much of the house to let him have reign in.  Neither of us is necessarily allergic to cats, but when I spend the night at the home of someone whose cats get on bed, couches, etc I wake up really sneezey (which according to my spellcheck is not a word).  So we don’t want that to happen.

We keep the bedroom doors closed and there is a definite line of demarcation between the living room which is carpeted and the rest of the house which is hardwood.  He knows he’s not allowed in the living room.  He’s gotten a couple butt swats for coming in and understands the forceful “NO!” if he sets one foot on the carpet.  But here’s where his human child characteristics show up.

Cappuccino will put one foot on the carpet and look at you to see what you’re going to do about it.  As soon as he’s told no, he steps back.  Sometimes he’ll try it again (a second try means he’s locked in the laundry room!) or more likely he’ll sit right at the boundary and throw a tantrum, crying like a toddler who doesn’t get their way.  But he’s learning.  If he wants to be held there’s a blanket that we hold him in (the only way he’s in the living room) and he can cry once and nudge it to let us know he needs some cuddle time.

I’m finding him a comforting addition to my working from home routine, the blanket on my lap is a perfect spot for a little purring motorboat!  Of course now we have to start thinking about someone at home other than ourselves, I start the coffee pot and then feed kitty before feeding myself.  But it’s kind of nice to be responsible for someone else.  He’ll have us broken in in no time!

Oil and Vinegar Potato Salad

serves 4 as a side

Ingredients

6 medium sized red potatoes cut into chunks (peel on)
2 TBS red wine vinegar
2 TBS cream
2 TBS olive oil
1/4 red onion finely chopped
2 TBS chopped fresh Italian parsley

Instructions

Place potatoes in a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil.  Boil potatoes for 10 minutes until easily pierced with a fork.

Drain potatoes and place in a large bowl.  Drizzle with vinegar and stir well, mashing the potatoes with the spoon until they’ve absorbed all the vinegar.  Repeat the mixing and mashing with the creama and oil.

Stir in onion and parsley, serve hot or chilled.

Approximate cost/serving: Potatoes are so cheap which makes this a really affordable healthy side.  I have parsley in my garden but even if you have to buy it it’s usually under $1 a bunch.  The whole dish cost me $1.90 so only 48 cents a serving.

Vegetarian/Gluten Free: It’s already vegetarian but you can leave out the cream to make it vegan, you’re good to go for gluten free.