Czech Bramborovy Salat Lunch Boxes with Smoked Ham, Pickles and Dill

Put the whole unpeeled potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold salted water and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until a knife slides in with only slight resistance. Cooking them whole and in their skins keeps them from waterlogging.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 pounds (900g) waxy potatoes, such as Yukon Gold, unpeeled
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced small
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 6 ounces (170g) smoked ham, diced
• 3/4 cup dill pickles, finely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons of their brine
• 1 small yellow onion, minced
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup plain full-fat yogurt
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• Fine sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Put the whole unpeeled potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold salted water and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until a knife slides in with only slight resistance. Cooking them whole and in their skins keeps them from waterlogging.
2. Add the diced carrots to a small pot of salted boiling water and cook 5 minutes, adding the peas for the final minute. Drain both and spread on a tray to cool quickly.
3. Drain the potatoes and leave them until just cool enough to handle. Slip off the skins with your fingers and cut the flesh into half-inch cubes.
4. While the potatoes are still warm, toss them with the 2 tablespoons of pickle brine and a good pinch of salt. Warm potatoes drink up seasoning; cold ones do not.
5. Let everything cool completely to room temperature, then fold together the potatoes, carrots, peas, eggs, ham, pickles and onion in a large bowl.
6. Whisk the mayonnaise, yogurt and mustard together and fold it through gently with a rubber spatula. Stop as soon as everything is coated, or the potatoes will break down into mash.
7. Stir in the dill, then season with salt and plenty of black pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, so the flavors settle.
8. Pack into lunch containers straight from the fridge with a chilled pack. Taste and add a splash more pickle brine before packing if the salad has tightened up overnight.
9. Bramborovy salat is the Czech table's fixed point, mandatory alongside fried carp at Christmas and made in enormous bowls the rest of the year. The pickle brine is the detail that separates a Czech version from its blander cousins elsewhere: that acidity cuts the mayonnaise so the salad stays bright even after two days in the refrigerator, which is exactly what makes it such a reliable packed lunch.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 410 kcal
• Protein: 15g
• Fat: 26g
• Carbohydrates: 31g
• Fiber: 4g
• Sugar: 5g
• Sodium: 780mg