Alternative Potato Salad: Will Chris Eat It?

(Disclaimer: It's after 2 AM, so stream-of-consciousness writing has kicked in.)

My husband, Chris the Picky Eater, hates mayonnaise. By extension, he hates the salads made with it, including potato salad. On our shopping trip to Whole Foods (the only place I know of to get a filter for the shower) I picked up a copy of ReadyMade, a magazine devoted to DIY projects and aimed at my 20-something-to-early-30's age group, with something of a hipster vibe.  It often features ways to work with small spaces, which fits my apartment-dwelling situation. I was flipping through when I found the article "Picnic Society". 

Now I am eager to grow microgreens in a muslin bag and turn two coffee cans into an ice cream maker, inspired by the simple directions. The menu, however, is not "Chris friendly". He grimaces at plain old soy sauce, so that Vietnamese fish sauce would elicit a "you tryin' to kill me, woman?". Also, that would be the only recipe I have using fish sauce, and I loathe wasting money on an exotic ingredient I won't use again. (However, looking at a description of fish sauce, maybe I could try Worcestershire sauce in its place, since that is salty and made with anchovies.)

To me, the gem of the article was a potato salad that Chris would eat. (Actually, I wasn't sure of that, but it was worth a shot, and he liked it.) 

The pictures show baby potatoes, but I made the recipe with regular size potatoes, cut into chunks and boiled until just tender. Also, for a green, I used arugula, which I "foraged" at Whole Foods. I recommend juicing the lemon before starting anything else (besides the potatoes, which take a while), because so much has to be done so fast and grating a lemon while keeping tabs on everything else feels hectic . I used a fine cheese grater to zest the lemon. White pepper is available at Price Rite in a packet for 69 cents on the Badia spice display (bargain! score!) as well as a well-appointed grocery store spice aisle. 

Yukon Gold Potato Salad with Foraged Greens
2 lbs. small Yukon Gold potatoes, simmered or steamed until tender
½ c. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 handful dandelion or mustard greens, or any other spicy green
2 tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. white pepper
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
While potatoes are cooking, heat oil in a large saute pan and cook the garlic until it becomes fragrant and begins to brown. Add the greens, salt, and pepper and cook over medium-high heat for a minute or two, until greens are wilted. Add lemon juice and remove from heat. Drain potatoes, cut in half while warm, and add the contents of the saute pan. Toss, adding freshly grated lemon zest and seasoning as desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.