New summer side dish

We grilled steaks the other night and I was thinking of making a caprese salad to go with it. I don't like to eat a lot of cheese with meat so I was trying to think of another idea when I remembered seeing this recipe on Blue Kitchen. It's similar to a caprese salad but with thin slices of cooked potatoes (served cold) instead of the cheese.

It came together really quickly and my husband actually ate potatoes! It's not that he hates them, he just doesn't prefer potato side dishes. Occasionally, mashed potatoes are fine, but in general, he'd prefer rice or bread or some other starch. I'm planning to make this a bunch this summer - cold side dish with summer flavors.

A couple of recipe notes: I think kalamata olives would work well in place of the capers, don't skimp on the basil, and I used heirloom cherry tomatoes which were great (but tomatoes fresh from the garden would be even better!). I made the full amount of garlic olive oil and then used it to make pasta the next night. It would be an awesome dipping sauce for bread!

My husband thought that if the potatoes were diced or sliced like matchsticks, it would be better / easier to eat than the rounds. I used two small russets instead of one big one and I thought the small rounds were just fine.

Deconstructed Italian Potato Salad (2 servings)
from Blue Kitchen

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove
freshly ground black pepper

1 large russet potato
1 cup chopped tomatoes
2 T chopped red onions
4 tsp. capers (chopped if large)
2 T chopped fresh basil, divided
salt and pepper, to taste

Make garlic infused olive oil: Peel the garlic clove and bash it with the side of the knife to break it up. Put it in a jar with the olive oil and grind in some black pepper. Seal jar and shake it up. Let it set for a few hours (or make a few days ahead and refrigerate). Bring it to room temperature before using.

Make potato salad: Peel the potato and slice into 1/4 inch slices, discarding ends. Add to a rapidly boiling pot of water (salt the water). Cook the potato until it just loses that raw taste but it still firm, no more than 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the slices to an iced water bath to stop the cooking and once cool, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Combine the tomatoes, onions, capers, and half the basil in a bowl. Dress the mixture with 1 T of the garlic-infused olive oil. Spoon 3 T of that oil onto a serving plate. Arrange the potato slices in a single layer on a serving plate. Scatter the tomato mix over the potato slices. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of basil over everything and season with salt and pepper.