Eye for a Recipe

It’s great to be back at our house for the summer and great to be barbecuing again. One of the first things I made was this grilled potato salad with scallion vinaigrette from the June 2014 issue of Food and Wine. Parboil some small potatoes and then grill them with some scallions until lightly charred. Toss with a refreshing vinaigrette and top with slice jalapenos and red pepper. The recipe called for piment d’Espelette, a mildly spicy ground red pepper from France, but I used cayenne.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Use a rice vinegar with no preservatives; I use Marukan brand. Be sure to use freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Parboil small round or fingerling potatoes

Grill scallions until lightly charred

Cover scallions with plastic wrap and steam for a few minutes

Grill the potatoes until lightly charred

Grilled potatoes with scallion vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds fingerling potatoes

Kosher salt

10 scallions, trimmed

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing

Ground black pepper

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Piment d’Espelette

1 small jalapeño, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, cover the potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Add a generous pinch of salt and simmer over moderate heat until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and let cool slightly, then halve lengthwise.

Meanwhile, light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the scallions with oil and season with salt and black pepper. Grill over high heat, turning, until lightly charred, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate, cover with plastic wrap and let steam for 10 minutes. Cut the scallions into 1-inch lengths.

Brush the potatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill cut side down over high heat until lightly charred, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

In a large bowl, whisk the 1/3 cup of olive oil with the vinegar and lemon juice. Add the scallions and potatoes and toss well. Season with salt and piment d’Espelette and toss again. Scatter the jalapeño slices on top, garnish with a large pinch of piment d’Espelette and serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 6.

From the June 2014 issue of Food and Wine

Now that the weather is warmer, I’m craving potato salads and fresh herbs. This recipe from the May 2014 issue of Canadian Living includes both. Boiled baby potatoes, roasted salmon, hard-boiled eggs, chives, dill and sliced pickles are combined with a lemon-mustard dressing. Delicious!

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Be sure to use freshly squeezed lemon juice and a grainy mustard with no sulfites or sodium benzoate. I use President’s Choice Old-Fashioned Dijon. Instead of cornichons, I used dill pickles. Strub’s Kosher Pickles contain no preservatives.

For perfect hard-boiled eggs, cover eggs with cold water, bring to boil, remove from heat, cover and let stand 18 minutes

Boil baby potatoes until tender

Roast the salmon and flake it with a fork

Add herbs and pickles

Egg and salmon potato salad

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 pkg (680 g) baby yellow-fleshed potatoes, scrubbed

400 g skinless salmon fillets

1/4 tsp (1 mL) each salt and pepper

2 tbsp (30 mL) lemon juice

4 tsp (18 mL) olive oil

4 tsp (18 mL) grainy mustard

2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped fresh chives

1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh dill

8 cornichons, sliced

Preparation:

Place eggs in saucepan; pour in enough cold water to cover by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bring to boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand for 18 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water until cool, about 2 minutes; drain again. Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Peel off shells; cut eggs into quarters.

Meanwhile, in large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes; drain. Let cool just enough to handle; cut into quarters.

Meanwhile, place salmon on parchment paper–lined rimmed baking sheet; sprinkle with half of the salt and pepper. Bake in 350 F (180 C) oven until fish flakes easily when tested, 12 to 15 minutes. Flake with fork.

In large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, mustard and remaining salt and pepper. Add potatoes, salmon, chives, dill and cornichons; gently toss to coat. Scrape onto serving platter; top with eggs. Serves 6.

From the May 2014 issue of Canadian Living