The temperature is rising and the sunny days of Summer are just bursting with cookouts, pot-lucks and pool parties. A creamy potato salad is great for these get-togethers because it can be made up to 2 days ahead and the flavor actually improves as it sits!

Frequently, a potato salad either features an oil-and-vinegar dressing or a mayonnaise-based dressing. My recipe actually uses both: the lighter dressing goes onto the warm potatoes, infusing them with flavor as they cool, and then follows with the mayonnaise dressing enriched with eggs and chives. We cut our mayo with sour cream for a lighter, tarter finish but you can also use Greek-style yogurt if you prefer.

Incidentally, this recipe is from my comic book cookbook, What to Feed Your Raiding Party, which is currently available for pre-order.

Redskin Potato Salad

Ingredients:

Method:

1. Place the diced potatoes (about 1″ cubes) in a large pot with enough water to cover by about an inch. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes or until potatoes pierce easily with a fork.

2. Meanwhile, combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.

3. Drain the cooked potatoes, place in a large bowl and pour the prepared dressing over the cooked potato pieces. Toss or stir together the two bits so that each piece of potato has a chance to be covered in dressing, being careful not to mash the potatoes too much, and place, covered, in the fridge until cool.

4. Add the eggs, celery, onion, peppers and chives to the cooled, dressed potatoes.

5. Combine the mayonnaise and sour cream in a small bowl and then add to the rest of the ingredients, stirring to mix everything together.

6. Add salt and pepper, if needed, and chill until it’s time to eat (both you and the potato salad).

Serves 8

Calories per serving: 203 | Carbohydrates: 27 g | Protein 5 g | Fats 9 g

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To dress the warm potatoes, most people would just whisk the ingredients together. For the longest time, though, I’ve used a shaker bottle from Tupperware that has graduated sides (measure-markings) and a little wheel towards the top that helps aerate whatever you’re shaking. It worked fine, but the pop-on plastic (both for the top and the pour-spout cover) aren’t always the easiest to manage if you don’t get them lined up just right.

So when OXO gave me the opportunity to try out their new Good Grips Salad Dressing Shaker, I was thrilled to see how it compared.

The top half screws onto the bottom half and creates a great seal–no worries of flinging the dressing around with this one–and the pour spout is easily worked with a single finger; no prying! Plus, it’s pretty to look at, and a well-designed gadget always wins my heart.

With sides marked with cup measurements as well as ounces and milliliters, I’m tempted to use this for mixing cocktails, too!

OXO was kind enough to send me two of these little gems, one for me and one to share! So if you’d like to win your own Salad Dressing Shaker, leave a comment below! You’ve got until Sunday, May 20, 2012, at 5pm EST to enter the giveaway. Since this is part of my usual post-share with Circle of Food, comments left on this post in either location will be included. The winner will be announced on Monday, May 21, 2012.

This giveaway is open to residents of the Unites States.

FTC Disclaimer: I was provided product from OXO to review and share. All opinions expressed are my own.