Although you would have to eat a pretty good amount of green potato to come to any harm, the green parts contain solanine, as do the sprouts and leaves of potato plants, which are members of the nightshade family. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002875.htm

1 - You can eat potato eyes, and even potato sprouts, but they taste a little different - kindy waxy-bitterish - and tend to burn in the oven. Green potato sprouts, on the other hand, have high concentrations of alkaloid in them, and as a result, I recommend cutting them out.

2 - Potatos stored in very warm or very cool environments, with access to light (particularly sunlight) go greener faster. I suggest covering potatos if you keep any for long, and keep them at a middle temperature.

3 - Agreed for red potatos (particularly since some of them can turn into potato salad without being peeled), and brown potatos. I do notice a big difference between nuked and baked potatos, though : the latter is much more of a starchy taste to me.

4 - Toss in some vinegar or pickle juice, some shredded carrots and sliced pickle and celery, and a bit of mustard if you're not into the eggy taste. Works wonders for me.

Jeff,

For a traditional potato salad here are some tips.

Baking potatoes contain a lot of starch which can be gluey in potato salad so use boiling potatoes instead (more round less oblong generally points you in the right direction in case it doesn't say on the bag)

Boil the potatoes whole with the skin on, the night before until a knife slides out easily. Then let em' sit uncovered in a colander in the fridge this will dry em' out. Don't worry the peels come off real easy.

For a dressing keep some things in mind.

Dressings need binders. Traditional potato salad uses mayo which is an oil emulsion, build on that and you'll go far. So start with your favorite mayo, then add some vinegar (white, cider, malt, tarragon, balsamic all work well) how much? well I would say about a tablespoon for each half cup mayo you use. And here is a secret that food companies all use, add light corn syrup. In about the same amount as the vinegar you added. this balances the acids and enhances what's called "mouth feel" in the trade really adds something.

Other things to consider:
Add hard boiled egg, this makes use of the yolk to improve the binding of the dressing and adds a nice yellow color.

Consider add dill and "old Bay" (can be found in any grocery store) for spices along with some kosher salt and fresh black (or white if the specks bother you) pepper. Classic potato salad fare there.

This is just a quicky overview If you want more detail drop me an e-mail.

4 years of Culinary School and 15 year in the trade should be worth something , yes?
;-)

Good luck!

I don't think your potato salad sounds lame. I make mine the same way, plus diced onion. (I know, you don't like onions.) Sometimes I add a sprinkle of paprika for good measure.

When I bring it to a BBQ, I get tons of compliments. People are so used to the gussied-up stuff, they are amazed at the beauty of simplicity.

I second mustard, pickles (or relish), and pickle juice.

The flavor will improve over a few days, so make a big batch the night before you plan to start eating it.

Garlic salt makes everything better, but this goes quadruple for potato salad. Use a lot. Seriously. Screw heart disease.

OK, my mother would kill me if she knew I was going to give away her secret, but here goes...beer.

Seriously.

Start with russet, red or gold potatoes. Your white ones will work too, but they're a little less starchy so they may not hold up well in submersion. Boil them, hard, with the eggs your going to use in the salad. Once boiled, we get to important part number 1 - cool them off fast. Dump the hot water out, fill the pot with cold water and they start dumping ice trays into it. The faster they cool, the easier the potatoes, and especially the eggs, will peel.

Peel the P&E's, dice them and throw them in a bowl. Dice a small jar of sweet gerkins into medium pieces and throw them in a bowl. Chop a small bundle (.2lbs) of green onions and throw them in. Add 2:1 parts mayo and mustard until the concoction is mostly covered.

Then, add the beer. I find that about a 1/2 to 2/3 can of Coors Light or MGD works best. DO NOT USE A DARK/IMPORT! It will mess up the taste. Immediately refrigerate for at least two hours.

In practice, what the beer does is cause the mayo/mustard to foam up and act as a better binding agent for the solid stuff. I don't know why, but I do know that I have always had the best results, it's never runny or soggy and I know I can't eat the stuff from the store anymore.

I have never tried making potato salad, so I can't speak to that, but I like simple fine, and some of the unsimple ideas here sound great.

Baked potato: I love them for the skins. Thus they are certainly edible if nuked and nuked alone, but for me nuking is just a speedup for the overall cooking process. Then you crisp them. That can even be done on a grill or in a toaster oven, rather than in a standard oven. The gas grill is a trick of my father's, and the toaster oven was how I was able to have baked even when I had no oven.

The only reason I like small potatoes for baking at all is to have extra skins. Load them with butter and pepper. Even maybe one of the rare things I might salt. Eat them like that, or with some of the meat, even the other veggies or potato suffed back into them. Mmmm... One of the best things ever. Deb makes amazing mashed potato, and that it the only thing to have with many meals, but I love me some good baked potatoes now and then.

1) I have no idea, other than aesthetics, why anyone would cut the eys out of potatoes. It's just where a sprout could grow.

2) Because you're not storing them in a cool place in a paper bag :)

3) I usually microwave my baked potatoes, then finish them in the over for 10 minutes or so with the rest of the meal. Best of both worlds.
My favorite potatoes for making salad are Yukon Gold or other yellow potatoes. They hold their shape well and have a creamy depth to them that is delicious.

4) I use boiled, unpeeled potatoes (and keep the potato water for making bread - the starch in it makes a really moist, rich bread) and sliced boiled egg in a sauce made of mayonaise, a rough brown mustard, salt & pepper, horseradish, a little shredded carrots, fresh minced onion, green onion tops and the secret ingredient - chopped dill pickles and a tablespoon of the pickle juice.
Let set at least 2 hours. Overnight is better. Deee-vine.

Don't worry about the "eyes". Leave the skin
on. It's got all the nutrients. Just scrub a bit
with a brush. Rub them with butter salt and
pepper. Wrap in tin foil. bake till a fork will
go all the way in easy. Serve with sour cream and
chives.

Potato salad? Get somebody else to make it!

Gravity's sounds right; I also like a bit of sliced red radishes on the top as a garnish.

4) Add-ons: can also add crispy fried ham. Mmm, ham (drool...). Instead of pickle juice, I add white vinegar and sugar. HTH.

Potato or macaroni salads can use the same dressing.

1/2 C Miracle Whip
1 Tbsp vinegar, pickle, or lemon juice
1 or 2 Tbsp canned milk, half and half, or cream
1 Tbsp sugar
at least 3 hard boiled eggs, diced
diced onion
diced celery
diced bell pepper
1 large Kosher dill, diced fine
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
salt
pepper
2 or 3 C. diced peeled boiled potato or boiled elbow macaroni(after cooking)

Dice up, in the aggregate, about as much veggie as potato, gently mix with the diced eggs and potato in a LARGE bowl.

Mix the other stuff in a separate bowl, adjust for taste (I like my potato salad quite tangy,) then fold into the veggies/spuds. Adjust wetness of the salad by adding canned milk about a teaspoon at a time, if too dry. If too wet, wait a while, it'll dry out as the potato or macaroni absorb liquids. I like to make mine a day ahead and adjust wetness or seasoning just before serving. Garnish with paprika and egg slices.

I grew up in a family that liked Miracle Whip and as a result Mayonaise just plain tastes flat to me. I like it sometimes in some things, but not potato or macaroni salad.

Potatos that are going green are still usable, just not very attractive. If your potatoes are sprouting, rub the sprouts off and use the potatoes as soon as possible. Store your potatoes in a cool, dark place with good ventilation. Don't worry about the eyes. the only time I'd remove 'em is if I wanted fancy schmancy pure white unsullied mashed potatoes and I never want those. I like my mashies a little lumpy with quite a lot of butter mashed in and enough milk so they're all fluffy. Oh, and quite a bit of freshly cracked pepper.

Here's a link to an old family recipe for German potato salad, made with bacon and served warm.

http://rocketjones.mu.nu/archives/001307.php

Hi Jeff:

Just so you know, green potatoes are NOT okay to eat. The alkaloid mentioned is called solanin and is poisonous. To keep them from going green they should be stored in a cool dark place.