Quick Potato Salad recipe

Probably everyone has got their own variation on a potato salad recipe already but I thought I'd share this one which I can get from opening the fridge to serving up in about twenty minutes. It's simple to do and only has a few ingredients. The following amounts served two as an accompaniment to our lunch on Sunday. I had a mini Ploughman's Cheddar and Pickle Tartlet and Dave had a slice of Cumberland Sausage and Bramley Apple Pie - and, no, I didn't make either of those two myself! +Sainsbury's delicatessen counter did the honours.

175g new potatoes
pinch of salt
several fresh mint leaves
2 tsp Mayonnaise
squeeze of lemon juice

Put a saucepan of salted water on to boil while you cut the potatoes into roughly inch-cubed pieces. You can peel them if you want. I usually just wash them as I like the skins left on new potatoes. I cut up 4 good-sized potatoes which turned out to be just about 175g.

When the water comes to the boil, put the potato pieces in with a couple of fresh mint leaves. They'll probably only take about 10 minutes to cook so keep an eye on them and don't let them get too soft.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain them immediately and rinse them under cold water until they have completely cooled. I always do this even if I'm not moving straight on to the adding mayonnaise stage. Mum always did too. I can't remember why it's important though. Possibly it stops the potatoes continuing to cook? Maybe it stops them changing colour? Answers in the Comments below if you know!

Put the cooled potato into a bowl with 2 tsp of mayonnaise, a good squeeze of lemon juice and 3-4 fairly finely chopped mint leaves. I've already discarded the soggy ones from the saucepan. Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly but not too enthusiastically. You don't want to break up the potato pieces.

Serve cold.

There's lots of different ingredients you can also add to this salad to make it more impressive. it travels quite well for picnics and packed lunches as long as it can be kept cool. Chopped apple works nicely for a sweeter flavour, or chives and spring onions give a savoury crunch. Most green herbs will work whether fresh or dried. We're lucky because Dave grows fresh mint in our garden, but I've tried parsley, dill, coriander or basil instead to ring the changes. If I don't have half a fresh lemon already sat in the fridge, I will make do with a few drops of lemon juice out of a jar of slices instead of cutting into a new one. We are usually part-way through a jar because I use the slices in my Turkey Tagine recipe. I do like to use a good quality mayonnaise though because I find the cheaper ones can taste too acidic.