For Potato Salad With A Tex-Mex Spin, Add These 2 Powerhouse Ingredients

Discreetly positioned amid famed potato salads from all over the world, some spud specialties are more narrowly regional than the rest. American potato salad may broadly speak to the nation's proclivity for coating our largest vegetable crop in delicious fats, but even that only tells part of the story. Additional mix-ins can more closely capture a specific geographical area, oftentimes even down to a single household's proprietary preparation. And something as simple as a little lime and cilantro can give your potato salad a Tex-Mex spin, regardless of your own coordinates.

Now, this twist is obviously not for the cilantro haters in the mix. But lovers of the fresh, leafy green herb will find its ability to cut through a potato salad's rich mayo with its own effervescent bouquet to be an uplifting addition to a side that sometimes seems a little heavy. The lime also lightens everything up with its own fruity acidity. And together, they create a taste of the mingling of Mexican and Texan cuisines.

Most of the classic potato salad recipes that you come across in the U.S. are going to be made with mayonnaise, rather than tossed in an oil or vinaigrette. Mayo's creaminess is also wonderful with perky lime and herbaceous cilantro in particular, nicely incorporating with the citrus and gently coating the dainty herb where an oil or a vinaigrette might, instead, weigh it down. So try to go mayo for this one.

You can also generally follow the blueprints for any standard potato salad for this Tex-Mex adaptation. Yukon Golds always make for a winning potato salad base, and you can begin by chopping and boiling them to your previously successful specifications. Salt and pepper are also compulsory. And for your pièce de résistance, you'll want to stir the cooled tubers together with the mayo and about a tablespoon of the chopped cilantro and a tablespoon of lime per pound of potatoes to start, and increase to taste. Should you be in the market for even more Tex-Mex goodies, a sliced jalapeño is an excellent option that also brings a bit of heat. Tortilla strips likewise stay in the Tex-Mex lane with a nice crunch. Add some bright corn kernels, too, and you're practically a culinary cowboy.