Chef Brooks Headley’s go-to side dish just might be the main event at your holiday cookout.

“Potato salad is often made by the person who can’t cook, so it usually stinks,” says the Del Posto alum, who is famous for the veggie burgers he serves at his East Village restaurant, Superiority Burger. “But if you cook the potatoes just right, season them, surround them with a creamy dressing studded with other vegetable texture, then you have a winner.”

Headley’s salad, from the new “Superiority Burger Cookbook” (Norton), has the perfect balance of tangy vinegar and creamy mayonnaise, with fragrant herbs and crunchy veggies. Plus, your vegan friends can get in on the fun — Headley makes his dish with a surprisingly easy (and optional) chickpea mayo.

Ingredients
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tbsp. salt
2 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. cane sugar
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 tbsp. seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 English cucumber, cut into small dice
2 to 3 cups green peas, frozen or fresh
1½ cups mayonnaise (or chickpea mayo, recipe follows)
1 cup fresh chervil, finely chopped, plus a little extra for garnish (flat-leafed parsley will also do as an alternative)
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Place potatoes in a large pot. Add 2 quarts cold water, 2 tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Once the liquid is boiling, reduce the heat a little and cook until the potatoes are just tender — about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately transfer to a baking sheet, spreading the potatoes into a single layer. Sprinkle the hot potatoes with the rice wine vinegar and set aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss diced cucumber and peas with the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar and a good pinch of salt. Add the cooled potatoes. Mix in the mayonnaise, chervil, scallions and 1 teaspoon pepper. Serve cold and top with chopped chervil and freshly ground pepper. Serves 6.

¹/₂ cup liquid from a can of chickpeas
20 chickpeas
1 ¹/₂ tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. cane sugar
2 tbsp. kosher salt
2 ¹/₂ cups grapeseed oil

Combine the chickpea liquid, chickpeas, mustard, cider vinegar, sugar and salt in a blender. Blend at high speed until the mixture is completely smooth. While the blender is running, slowly drizzle in the grapeseed oil. As you add the oil, an emulsion will form and it will begin to thicken. Check the seasoning for salt and sugar. Makes 2 cups.

Excerpted and condensed from “Superiority Burger Cookbook” by Brooks Headley, Norton, 2018.