Power dressing: a twist on the classic potato salad

Holidays mean time with my family in Limpopo and copious amounts of food – the one time I absolutely refuse to count calories. These occasions actually involve very little rest as everyone tries to catch up. Easter is no different – the entire weekend is about family for us. We take holidays seriously but I’m not complaining. Spending time with my parents, cousins, aunts and uncles, and enjoying all the delicious food made with and for them sounds like a sweet deal to me.

Easter Sunday is centred around church and the big lunch after a long service – one of those where the pastor starts off the sermon with “Today I will be short”, but three hours later he’s still at the pulpit mopping his brow with a damp handkerchief. At that point everyone is twisting and turning in their seats, checking the time, stomachs loud with hunger. That’s why it’s important to be prepared. Start with a satisfying but quick breakfast to get you through the service and the equally important meet-and-greet session afterwards.

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Women in their hats, children dressed dangerously in white socks with frills, men in suits despite the Limpopo heat. Everyone has news about their almost law-graduate son, or their officially-a-doctor daughter who couldn’t make it because who would save lives? Even Jesus understands. Finally, we’re able to drag the moms away from their boasting circle, with threats of the car leaving without them, to make it home in time to finish preparing the lunch we all started that morning.

Find the recipe for avo potato salad here.

The pickled fish was made the day before, the lamb just needs to be finished in the oven, the rice and many of the sides were already cooked before church, and all that is left are the salads, which are made while the girls set the table. My aunt Dimpho Seshoene’s potato salad is one of my favourites. My family prefers everything to stay exactly the same each year. The menu is almost identical, the conversations are similar, the routine is the same. It’s comforting, I guess. But trust my aunt to try to shake things up – well, as much as they can be shaken up with my square loved ones.

In an act of rebellion, her contribution is always different. Last year she made the potato salad but she swapped the mayonnaise for a dressing with avo, herbs, yoghurt, salt and pepper, smashed to make a green creamy, velvety alternative we couldn’t get enough of. Add to that bacon bits and finely chopped red onion, and you have a recipe for seconds. It’s different, but familiar in all the right ways. And with big smiles, we finished off the entire bowl.

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