Garden Vegetable Potato Salad

This week's use-it-up recipe was born out of necessity.  We arrived home late last night from Erie immediately passed out. This morning, at breakfast, I realized there was absolutely nothing to eat in our house but a hodgepodge of some of last week's veggies i didn't take to Pennsylvania with me.  The cabinets were bare.  No bread.  No eggs. No milk. No cheese.  This morning the kids ate almonds and cantaloupe for breakfast.  That was fine; Dr. Perricone would approve.  However, around lunchtime I realized I couldn't feed them that again so I turned to the fridge.  

My crisper drawer was like Mary Poppins' purse -- a little bit of everything: a really ripe avocado, three carrots, zucchini, some assorted potatoes, green peppers, a couple hot peppers, a lemon, and a few small onions.  So I threw everything together and the result was a great garden vegetable potato salad.  No mayonnaise to speak of, the avocado and lemon whisked with little olive oil serves as the dressing. The only seasoning I used was salt and pepper.  So easy. And healthy.

But the best part was that I avoided the grocery store.  Our Washington's Green Grocer delivery comes tomorrow and sometimes I feel like I"ll do anything to avoid the crowded supermarkets in between deliveries.  Sell my soul to the devil? Will he deliver dinner? (And then clean the dishes?) OK, then!  Done deal.  

Now I just have to come up with one final meal…leftovers, anyone?!  (And we are also accepting dinner invitations…)

Garden Vegetable Potato Salad (sans mayo)

1 pound mixed potatoes, skin on and cut in pieces
2 green peppers, chopped
a couple hot peppers, chopped
1 or 2 small onions, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 or 3 small zucchini squash, shredded (I do mine with a peeler)
1 ripe avocado
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste

Boil your potatoes until fork tender.  Meanwhile, whisk together your ripe avocado (I squashed mine with a fork first), lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toss all your veggies in this avocado dressing.  Once the potatoes are done, drain and throw those in too. Mix well.  Serve warm or let chill for a few hours.