Alex Gallegos' Golden Potato Salad. (Alex Gallegos/for The Gazette)

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.

I’m a transplant to the Midwest from the Rocky Mountain region. I’m not sure if native Iowans know this, but sometimes the Midwest gets some flak from the rest of the country about the quality of our salads.

I do not share this opinion, however. Do we have some salads that could more accurately be classified as puddings? Sure, probably, but I come here from a landlocked state that serves a dish called “Rocky Mountain Oysters.” If you’re not familiar with them, I’ll spare you the details, but I’ll just leave it at this — they aren’t seafood.

My point is, the rest of the country should probably examine the culinary skeletons in their own closet before they cast derision at what they call the Flyover States. Especially because one of the most famous backyard barbecue staples for decades, the potato salad, so aptly fits the description of those Midwestern salads they turn their nose up at so often.

Recipe

Golden Potato Salad

Prep time: 45 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves 8

Ingredients

5 pounds golden potatoes

1 green bell pepper

1 cucumber, quartered, seeded and chopped

1 1/2 cups (about 15) radishes, halved and sliced

1 onion, chopped fine

6 hard boiled eggs

2 cups Miracle Whip

Directions

Heavily salt cold water, about 2 tablespoons.

Cube potatoes and put in water. Bring to boil from cold and cook until fork tender, about 3-5 minutes after water boils.

Cool in refrigerator with a paper towel in container to absorb condensation.

Mix with other ingredients and coat with Miracle Whip.

Source: Alex Gallegos

You can make this with any kind of potato you want, but I prefer the firm, waxy golden potato that I don’t have to peel, hence the title. It’d be equally good with red potatoes, and you could also use standard russets (but I would peel those).

Who among us has not opened a container of potato salad —especially leftovers — and found it’s turned into a watery mess of some kind? Only the extremely lucky and, possibly, saints experiencing some sort of potato-based miracle.

That’s why, if you have the time, I strongly recommend chopping all the vegetables and cooking and peeling the eggs a day in advance. Put them in a container in the refrigerator and put a few sheets of paper towel on top. The next day, there will be condensation on the inside of the container, and the paper towels will be soaked. That’s all liquid that would have turned your dressing into a soupy mess.

That’s also why I recommend taking the seeds out of the cucumber before putting it in the salad. Excess moisture is the enemy in this dish, and eliminating as much of it as possible before adding the dressing is the difference between a mediocre salad and great one.

Alex Gallegos is an enthusiastic home cook who enjoys trying new recipes and learning new techniques. Find this recipe and others like it at PlatefulsOfFlavors.com.