When I was growing up, my mother prepared potato salad one way and one way only: red potatoes, boiled eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, dill pickles and salt and pepper.

No sweet relish, no onions, no bacon bits.

And she made her potato salad in a big yellow Pyrex bowl. If you saw that bowl come out of the cabinet, you knew you were having potato salad.

When Charlie and I married, we discovered we had identical recipes for potato salad. Needless to say, the old tried-and-true recipe is the one we've always used.

Until this past weekend.

On Sunday, I got out my "Come On In" cookbook that was compiled a few years back by the Jackson Junior League. Jane Black, last week's Cook of the Week, had mentioned the cookbook as one of her favorites.

(Speaking of Jane Black, I made a boo-boo in her recipe for Stuffed Manicotti. The recipe should have called for 11/2 pounds ground round. If you made it with just a half-pound, it still would have been good - just not very meaty.)

In "Come On In," I came across a recipe for Lemon Dill Potato Salad that sounded fresh and interesting. With that recipe chosen, I made out the rest of Sunday's menu: grilled chicken, sautampéed green beans and deviled eggs.

We really liked this potato salad. It's light and creamy and lemony - a perfect accompaniment to grilled chicken. I'm sure I'll use it again when we're ready for a change from the old standard.

By the way, I did not use the chopped red onions - that's just a personal preference - and I used light mayonnaise and reduced-fat sour cream.

Lemon Dill Potato Salad

24 new potatoes, unpeeled

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh dill or 2 teaspoons dried

1 small red onion, chopped

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Cover potatoes with cold salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender but firm, about 10 minutes. Drain and refrigerate. Quarter and season cooled potatoes with salt, pepper, lemon zest, dill and onion. Blend in mayonnaise, sour cream and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours. Toss again and adjust seasoning before serving.

Serves 8.

Ginna Parsons is the Daily Journal's food/home/ garden editor.