Smoked Salmon with Potato and Asparagus Salad

The best thing about summer are the light evening meals on a warm day that leave you feeling pleasantly full. This evenings dinner has given me that feeling. I adapted Jamie Olivers recipe to suit my kids and had to do without chicory because I couldn’t find it anywhere but think it would have had added a lovely colour to the dish. We enjoyed it immensely either way.

I kept the core elements of this dish but separated out the dill sauce. My girls enjoyed the new potatoes with the saltiness of the bacon and asparagus while my husband and I enjoyed spooning the dill sauce over ours. Over the years this has worked out well for us, the girls are more likely to try new things when we give them control over how much and when.

Ingredients

• 500g Baby new potatoes
• 4 Rashers of smoked pancetta (or smoked bacon lardons)
• 1 Tsp English mustard
• 1 Tsp Wholegrain musstard
• 4 Tbsp fat-free natural yoghurt
• 1/2 a bunch fresh dill
• White wine vinegar
• 1 Red chicory
• 1/2 a small seeded load
• unsalted butter (I added some sea salt flakes)
• 240g Quality smoked salmon
• 1 bunch of asparagus (300g)
• 1 punnet of cress or pea shoots
• 1 Lemon

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C/325F
2. Halving the larger potatoes, pop them into a pan with a pinch of salt and cover with boiling water.
3. Pop the bread in the oven.
4. Put the pancetta on the griddle pan, turning when golden, then remove to a board. (I cooked bacon lardons until crispy then set them aside).
5. Arrange the smoked salmon on a serving platter with a gentle folds to give a little texture.
6. Lay four asparagus spears flat on a board and, holding each one by the stalk end and using a potato peeler, peel into delicate strips (discarding the woody ends), then scatter over the smoked salmon and with the snipped cress or pea shoots.
7. Trim the remaining asparagus and throw into the pan with the potatoes.
8. Put the mustard, yoghurt, chopped dill and a glug of vinegar into a serving bowl and combine, season to taste. You can now either serve this on the side or toss it with the potatoes and asparagus in a large serving bowl.
9. Finely slice the chicory and sprinkle it over the potatoes along with the crispy pancetta or bacon lardons.
10. Serve with the warm bread and a little butter and lemon wedges.