Emeril's Potato Salad

What's a summer meal without potato salad? An incomplete one, if you ask me. That's like going to the pool without a swimsuit. It's just. not. right.  And potato salad is right up any college culinarian's alley-- no precise measurements required: couple of diced potatoes, scoop of mayo, a little of this-and-that, and ta-da! You've just made a bowlful of spudsy heaven. Mr. Potato Head would be proud.

 So, when my friend Lara came to visit me over the weekend, potato salad was clearly going to be on the menu. I mean, what else could be a more perfect pairing for our cheese-stuffed hot dogs? (Grilled to do the dogs justice, of course.) Lara was raving about some Emeril Lagasse potato salad she made, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I trust her smarts...most of the time. By the way, don't ask her if the Pope is Catholic.

The potato salad tastes great. It originally calls for bacon, but I left it out because the only other meat stored in my fridge were more hot dogs. (Consider yourselves saved, arteries.) Don't leave out the ranch dressing. It definitely gives the salad that Emeril-y "BAM!" feeling.

(I'd like to give a shout-out to Ashley Brown, a fellow college student and College Culinarian fan. Happy 21st!)
Emeril's Potato Salad    Serves: 3
2 red potatoes, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 T. chopped red onion
1 hard-boiled egg, diced
1 T. fresh (or 1 t. dried) parsley
1 heaping T. mayonnaise
1 heaping T. ranch dressing
Salt
Pepper
1.) Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, or about 10-15 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.
2.) In a medium-sized bowl, add celery, red onion, egg, parsley, mayo, and ranch dressing. Stir in cooled potatoes and toss to coat. Generously season with salt and pepper.

Adapted from: Emeril Lagasse.