Picnic basket-Check. Fresh fruit- Check. Potato salad-Check. Rhubarb lemonade- Stay tuned.

It’s summah! Time to take your dining show on the road. Yeah yeah, like we don’t always do that anyway. But I’m not talking about eating in the car on the way to and from sports practices and games. I’m talking about the almighty picnic. There’s something about putting a bunch of food in a basket that makes it all taste better. (Ok, the one exception is grapes at a sandy beach with kids. That never works out.)

If you’re going to picnic with purpose, you’re going to need some go-to dishes that travel well and stand up to some pretty imprecise serving times. And as it gets hotter you’re going to need a solid potato salad without mayo. This one will do it, and the bonus is that it’s originally from Cook’s Illustrated so every aspect it has been exhaustively tested. What’s even better than a Cooks Illustrated recipe is a Cooks Illustrated has been further tweaked and streamlined by a real world foodie with actual time constraints. For instance, the original version of this involves grilling potatoes. Deal killer. This version is quite easy and quick with pretty basic ingredients. It came right from the top of Food 52’s list of 10 Picnic Dishes To Know, one of many lists I am working my way through. So far it is my favorite. Happy picnicking.

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

1/2 small red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 lbs new potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite-sized pieces
Salt
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp finely chopped chives
3 cups arugula, stems removed, washed and dried and very roughly chopped
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
5 Tbsp good olive oil

 Method

1. Put the onion in a small bowl and cover with cold water (this will remove some of the bite). Put the potatoes in a large pot of generously salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Lower the heat so the water is barely simmering and cook for about 10 minutes, until you can pierce the potatoes with the tip of a sharp knife and it slips out easily. Drain the potatoes well and pour them into a large bowl.
3. Gently toss the warm potatoes with the rice vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add the chives, arugula and red onion and stir through.
4. Whisk together the red wine vinegar, mustard and olive oil in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the potato mixture and toss to combine. Serve warm or keep covered at room temperature for up to an hour.