Creamy Potato and Fresh Soybean Salad

I enjoy the early morning farmer's market scene as much as anyone, but locally one of the best ways to get deals is by going late, just when people are packing things up. In particular the vendors selling semi prepared food such as peeled potatoes, shelled peas, and husked corn are most willing to give you a deal. Once a lady emptied out a whole basket of greens for me when I asked for one yuan's worth. (The go-late principle reportedly works in Western parts as well as Eastern.)

So I got back one evening with 1 and a half pounds of peeled potatoes and half a pound of fresh shelled soybeans. I wanted to make potato salad but didn't have pickles, so I just cooked the potatoes and steamed the soybeans over top of them. I then tossed the beans with 1.5 tbs white vinegar, 2 tbs olive oil, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, and salt. (I almost stopped here. The beans in vinaigrette were so good the next day I almost ate them all like this and used the potatoes for something else.)

After I bought pickles I cut the potatoes into chunks and smashed the chunks a bit, then cut dill pickles into about 2/3 of a cup's worth small dice. I emptied the beans into a bowl with the potatoes, pickles, and 1 tbs minced pepperoncini. I stirred up half a cup of pickle jar juice and dregs including a lot of garlic and dill pieces, and finally added a generous half cup of mayo. Stirred everything up and added 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Great lunch the next day, after I tasted it again for salt and pepper. This makes enough salad for a group, six or so.