Potato Salad with a Lox Twist

Smoked Salmon with Roasted Potato Salad

Smoked Salmon with roasted potato salad

I made this salad for Easter diner at my in-laws on Good Friday. It's a lighter version of the regular mayo based salad, and I roasted the potatoes to hold some firmness. You will notice that on the picture I forgo the pickles and capers. There is a family member that can't stand pickles, and it tasted good.  You can also add radishes, fennel and tarragon to the dish for more flavor.

Ingredients:

3-4 pounds of Baby Potatoes (yellow is best)

1/4 cup of Oil (Canola or grapeseed - high temperature)

Salt and fresh ground pepper

3-4 Green Onions finely chopped

1-2 Carrot(s) finely chopped

2-3 Celery stalks, finely chopped

1-2 Tbsp. of Capers, rinsed and drained

4-5 Gherkins or very small Pickles, finely chopped

1 Package (around 200 g) of Cold Smoked Salmon - aka Lox

Dressing:

3-4 Tbsp. of Crème Fresh 

Juice of half a Lemon (and a pinch of Lemon zest)

1 heaping Tbsp. of Dried Dill or 2-3 Tbsp. of fresh

1 tea of Honey

1 tea of Bold Dijon Mustard

Salt and Pepper

Tools:  Cutting board, knife, large pot, baking pan(s), large bowl, colander, wooden spoons, small bowl, and small spoons and serving bowl.

Serves: 4-6 people as a side, 2-3 as a main meal

Time: 2 - 4 hours, potatoes can be boiled instead of roasting - but they take a long time to cool off. And best to have this salad marinate too.  Even best the day before.

Roasting the potatoes:

Take the washed potatoes and cut them in halves or quarters.  Try to make the pieces almost the same time so they can cook easily.

Add them to a pot of boiling hot and salted water and cook for 5 - 8 minutes.  Don't cook them all the way through, just enough to soften, they will cook longer in the oven.  Preheat the oven to 425.

Once the boiling time is up, strain the potatoes and place into a large bowl. Add the oil, salt and pepper and coat the potatoes. Place the potatoes on to a bake sheet. Make sure they are not on top of each other, but rather have their own part of the bake pan.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes.  Check on them at around 25 minute part to stir them.  They should be golden and crispy.  If you want them crunchier, leave them in longer.

Once roasted, remove from oven and let cool completely.

You can boil the potatoes if you want to save time, we just like to roast them once in a while so the potatoes have a crispier outside and doesn't turn mushy in the salad.  Your choice.

Making of the dressing

I prefer making the dressing as the potatoes cool, just to get the flavours a chance to settle.

Take all the ingredients listed under the dressing category and mix in a bowl.  Take a taste, if you find it too sour, add more honey.  The dressing will be a little on the runnier side than the mayo dressings people normally use for potato salads.

Putting it all together

Once the potatoes are cold, the dressing is made and the veggies are cut - add them all to the bowl and mix.  Don't put all the dressing in at once, just little by little to see if you need the whole amount or if you prefer a lighter dressed salad.  Add the smoked salmon and mix gently.

Refrigerate until serving.

Enjoy.

Even though I live in Alberta and the sea is far away, I still try to buy Canadian products - luckily there is a local supplier/food processor in Edmonton. The Smoked Salmon I used is Sgambaros.  I really like this smoked Salmon, and they make other seafood products here in Edmonton.  

I bought my package at Bon Ton Bakery, but you can also pick this item at Italian Centre and at Mother's Market.

Info from Sgambaros website:
In 2013 Sgambaro's won a Food Award for their Atlantic Cold Smoked Salmon. Presented by the Alberta Food Processors Association, Sgambaro's won in the category of "Best Value Added Specialty Meat, Poultry or Seafood Product".

Give them a try.  

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Almonds and Goat Cheese

Ah, spinach and strawberries!  This salad says summer, even though it's still February.  


It's easy and pretty tasty (in my opinion).  If you are packing this for lunch the next day, I recommend not adding the dressing until you serve.  

This recipe has red onion. If you hate onion, you can leave it out - but, I like red onion, it gives a contrast to the sweet strawberries. The trick to not let the onion overpower the salad, is to let the red onion soak in some lime juice.  I heard this somewhere that the lime juice changes the sharpness. I've tried this method a few times and it works.  You can use the lime juice afterward in the dressing. The onion flavour doesn't transfer over in the liquid.  

4-5 cups of Spinach, washed and spun dry
1 cup of sliced Strawberries
4 tbs of sliced Almonds
1/8 of small Red onion, thinly sliced in rings
3-4 tbs of Goat Cheese, crumbled (or your favourite mild cheese)

Dressing:
4 tbs of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (good quality)
Juice of 1/2 a Lime
Dash of Salt and some fresh ground pepper
1 tea of honey

Tools: Large salad bowl, small bowl, salad spinner, knife, cut board, juicer, salad tongs, whisk or fork.

Step 1:
In a small bowl, put the sliced onion with the lime juice.  Let it sit and marinate in the juice for a few a few minutes.  The juice will turn a slight pink color.  Remove the onions, but don't throw out the juice - you'll need it for the dressing.

Step 2:
In a large bowl add the spinach, top with strawberries, almonds, onions (post marinated in lime juice) and  crumble the cheese.  

Step 3:
In the small bowl with the lime juice, add the rest of the dressing ingredients and whisk well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if you like.

Add the dressing right before you are going to serve.  You can drizzle and mix together, or plate the salad and let people spoon the desired dressing they want to have.

Enjoy.

Thai Salad Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

Book Club potluck, Zombies and Thai Salad Rolls

I'm in a book club with a wonderful group of women.  Our book club reads books that were turned into movies.  Every few months, we pick a book to read - then we gather together to watch the movie and see how far off the movie was from the book.  Our books can range to deep and thought provoking to easy and fun.  We also (the best part), do a potluck usually on the book's theme.  

Our last book was: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion.  It's a zombie teen romance novel. Since we really didn't want to do a potluck based on brains; we were lucky the main character ate some Thai food.  Our next book is "The Hundred-Foot Journey" - can't wait for that potluck.

I love Thai Food.  The mixture of salty, sweet, sour, heat and freshness is amazing.  

I saw a few recipes for Thai Salads, and I came up with this one recipe below.  My idea was to roll the salad into a finger food.  Thought it would be fun.

This recipe is vegetarian and can easily be turned into vegan if you change the honey to agave nectar.  

Cook time: 5-10 minutes for the dipping sauce

Prep time: 1 hour (rolling takes time)

Ingredients:

Filling:

2-3 Carrots, shredded

1 English cucumber, remove seeds and chopped finely

1 Red pepper, chopped finely

2-3 Green onions, chopped finely

1/4 -1/2 Savoy cabbage, finely shredded

1/2 cup Basil, minced

1/4 cup Cilantro, minced

1/4 cup Mint, minced

1 cup  Peanuts, dry roasted, unsalted (this add more crunch)

2-3 tbs Fresh lime juice

a pinch or two of salt

a pinch or two of sugar

1 pkg Rice paper (sold either in the deli or Asian section)

Warm water from the tap

Sauce:

1-2" piece of Ginger, grated or chopped very fine

2-3 Garlic cloves, grated or minced very fine

1 tbs of oil (use peanut or canola)

1 cup of Peanut Butter (natural, creamy is the best)

1 tbs of Soy Sauce*

1 tbs of Sriracha sauce*

Juice of half a Lime (fresh is best)*

1 tbs of Honey (or Agave for vegan)*

a few drops of Sesame Oil*

1-2 cups of water* (use only in small batches, to reach your desired consistency)

1 tbs of cilantro stems (use the leaves for the filling)

     *use to your taste buds, you can add more or less

Tools: Box grater, knife, cutting board, paper towels, spoons, large bowl, rimed platter, sauce pan, citrus juicer, serving dish and bowl.

Step 1:  Chop, shred and minced all the ingredients for the filling and add into a bowl.  Add peanuts and mix the ingredients well. Sprinkle a little of the sugar and salt and some lime juice - mix and add more salt/sugar/juice.  Taste to your liking.  Set aside for 5 - 10 minutes to let the flavors mingle.

Step 2: I just followed the instructions on the rice paper packaging.  It's simple, but you need some gentle hands - these sheets can tear easily.  Plus, watch for over soaking, the sheets can turn it into goo.

In a shallow rimmed platter add warm water from the tap.  Warm water works best and throughout the rolling process. I recommend changing the water when it cools down.  You'll notice the paper not soften easily when the water gets to room temperature.

Put one of the sheets into the warm water for five seconds. Submerge it in the water.

Then, carefully remove from the water and lie it down onto a clean chopping board. Let it sit for 30 seconds before you roll.

Take about 2-3 tablespoons of filling and add just south of center of the sheet.  Fold the bottom over the filling.  Next fold over the ends (see above) and roll to the end.  Just like making a wrap.

Continue these steps until you have used up all your filling.  This recipe make about 12-16 rolls, depending on how much you put in each roll.  Left over rice paper can be refrigerated.

To store the rolls: I use a rectangular baking pan and I put a damp (not wet) paper towel or tea towel on the bottom.  Then I line the rolls on top of the damp cloth, then add another damp towel on top of the rolls.  These rolls can dry up very fast in our Edmonton climate.

Peanut Dipping Sauce:

On medium heat, warm the oil, add the garlic and ginger.  Stir and cook for about 1-2 minutes.  (Smells divine)

Add the peanut butter and add some water to loosen and break up the butter.  Mix well, this sauce needs constant attention. 

When the peanut butter has liquefied, add Sriracha, soy sauce, lime juice, honey and some sesame oil.  

Reduce heat to low and keep adding water to the sauce (little at a time) to get the consistency you would like. 

Taste as you stir, if you want more heat - add more Sriracha or it's too sour add a bit more honey.  Thai food is a mix of flavors, but it's all up to what you to taste.

Add the cilantro stems (optional) to the sauce at the end of cooking.  

The time it takes to cook the sauce can be from 5 - 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool down.  You can serve this sauce warm or cold.   

This sauce tastes really good with grilled chicken  or on top of coconut rice.  My husband loves this sauce.

Serve the salad rolls with the sauce and enjoy the flavors.

Local Product:

The basil I used in the filling was grown locally in Morinville, by West Country Herbs.  

I purchased my basil at Andy's Valleyview IGA (9106 - 142 Street, Edmonton).  I've also have seen this basil at the Italian Centre too.  

The local basil sold in the larger 28 gram package was cheaper than the smaller (not local) package.