Broccoli Ranch Smashed Potato Salad

Photo courtesy Taste of Homes

  One of my guilty pleasure is a food magazine that come in the mail periodically. It always offers a little pull-out booklet on a specific topic. One such feature was 50 ways to make potato salad. What a great idea.
  Last weekend, I had some potatoes that needed to be used and I was looking for a side dish to go with dinner. I found a recipe for Smashed Potato Salad that sounded good and I almost had all the ingredients. Well, almost means not quite, there was no sour cream in my house. I pulled off a substitution that worked out well - I mixed some mayo and Ranch dressing for creaminess.
  This turned out to be an easy way to do potato salad and quite tasty as well. It's a bit of a cross between mashed potatoes and potato salad with broccoli and cheese thrown in.

Broccoli Ranch Smashed Potato Salad

5 medium potatoes

2-3 T. butter/margarine

3 T. (heaping) homestyle mayonnaise

1/4 cup Ranch salad dressing

Kosher salt

cracked black pepper

1 T. chives

1 T. bacon bits (or 2 slices cooked, crumbled real bacon)

1 cup cooked broccoli crowns

2-1/4 inch thick slices processed cheese (Velveeta), cut in cubes

   In large pot, cover washed potatoes with water by a couple of inches. Bring to boil on high heat, cover and cook until potatoes are fork tender, about 45 minutes. 

   Remove from heat, drain and add butter, salt and pepper. Smash potatoes with back of wooden spoon, stirring to combine. Cover potatoes to keep warm while making dressing.

   In small bow combine mayo, Ranch dressing, chives and bacon bits. Stir well to get a creamy texture. Pour over smashed potatoes, add broccoli and cheese cubes and stir well to combine. Let set covered on lowest heat, stirring often until ready to serve. Serves 4.