Caesar Style Marinated Potato Salad

I've mentioned before that I'm not a huge potato salad fan. I have a recipe on here that I like fairly well, but I still don't choose potato salad on a whim. Unfortunately, it's easy, and cheap and perfect for summer, so I went looking for another potato salad variation and found this one. It's a completely different flavor than your traditional potato salad and I really liked it. It reminded me a lot of baked potato soup... only in salad form. Plus, it's super easy to put together. The dressing is where the "Caesar style" in the title comes from... but it's not a creamy caesar dressing. It's an oil based dressing with just enough tang. It can be eaten chilled or warm and I definitely prefer it warm. Next time you're looking for something a bit different and have some potatoes on hand, I'd highly recommend this salad. Even my boys ate it! It will definitely be making more appearances in our home.

A couple of tips: Choose the right kind of potatoes. Some potatoes are perfect for mashed potatoes... don't use those for this salad! If you do, they'll turn to mush when you go to stir all your salad ingredients together. If in doubt, use red potatoes... they always hold up well to potato salad. Also, when you cook your potatoes, cook them with salt. One of my biggest complaints with potato salad is that you end up with a flavorful dressing and bland potatoes. I boiled my potatoes for this and added a lot of salt to the water. It'll definitely add to the flavor of your salad.

Recipe Source: Pillsbury Super Salads and Vegetables
Serves: 8 Servings (1/2 cup each)

Dressing:
1/4 cup oil
3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. salt

Salad:
4 cups cubed, cooked potatoes
8 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped parsley or 1-2 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
2 Tbsp. chopped green onions
2 hard boiled eggs, cut into slices or wedges

1. Combine all dressing ingredients and shake or stir well.

2. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, bacon, parsley, and green onions.

3. Pour dressing over potato mixture; toss lightly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate to blend flavors.

4. Garnish with egg wedges and either serve it straight from the fridge, or warm slightly.