hot-smoked salmon salad with mustardy crushed new potatoes and summer green vegetables

hot-smoked salmon salad with mustardy crushed new potatoes and summer green vegetables

It's too hot to think and too wet to shop (dear god, I think I might need water skis to get down to Kentish Town High Road). The cupboards are almost bare but I do have some fresh new potatoes from a friend's garden, lots of fresh herbs from my own garden and some rather wizened looking broad bean pods as well. 

Fortunately when I opened up the pods the beans themselves were fine; and while some people think that life is too short to skin a bean, I am firmly in the camp that says always skin broad beans (unless of course you get them very young), since I am not very fond of the dead man fingers effect of broad bean skins. But you can of course suit yourself!

So I am going to have a simple potato salad with broad beans and lift the whole dish with some of Graham from Bingley Market's sublime hot-smoked salmon. The potatoes are dressed with mustardy vinaigrette while still hot and take on a delicious potatoey fudge-like texture, soaking up the dressing and repaying me with enormous amounts of flavour that work so brilliantly with smoked fish.

Sheer happiness.

Serves 4
Skill level: Easy

ingredients:
salad
300g hot-smoked salmon
500g new potatoes
200g broad beans, podded
a handful of fresh peas
3 x spring onions, finely chopped (both white and green parts)
1-2 tbsp fresh dill, roughly chopped
a few fresh thyme leaves
dressing
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
a pinch of sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper

directions:

1. Cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Make the dressing by combining the olive oil, vinegar, mustard and a pinch of sugar. (I tend to put the dressing ingredients in a small jar. Then, with the lid on, give the ingredients a good shake and the dressing emulsifies immediately.) Check the seasoning.
3. Steam the broad beans for 2 minutes. Refresh with cold water and then remove the skins. You can either do this by squeezing them out of their pods (very satisfying) or using the tip of a sharp knife to make a small hole in the skin; again the beans should slip out easily.
4. Return them to the steamer about 2 minutes before the end of the potato cooking time; add the peas too and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Drain the potatoes and tip into a bowl. Roughly smash them with a fork, before adding the dressing.
6. Drain the broad beans and peas. Add to the potatoes with the spring onions. Stir well to combine. Set aside to cool a little.
7. When cool, stir through the herbs.
8. Flake the hot-smoked salmon over the potato salad and serve immediately.