Lentil and Fingerling Potato Salad w/ Warm Bacon Dressing

This post is sponsored by the Idaho Potato Commission. All opinions are my own.

This week the Sunday Supper Movement is partnering with the Idaho Potato Commission to bring you a menu full of Potato Salad Possibilities. We have so many mouthwatering variations, that I know you'll find some to add to your own menus throughout the next couple of seasons!

Now, let's talk potato salad. There are as many kinds under the sun as there are people. Some are coated in a creamy mayonnaise base. Others are infused with tangy vinegar. And then there are the ones that fall somewhere in between. Guess what? As long as they're made well, I love them all.

Growing up, German Potato Salad was my absolute favorite. My grandma made it all summer long, so those tender potato slices laced with onion, bacon, and zingy vinegar are ingrained in my soul. And back then, I didn't like mayo, therefore I didn't like mayo-based salads - so hers was the end-all.

Fingerling Potato Salad with Honey-Thyme Vinaigrette

It's that time of year again...PICNIC TIME!  That's right, June 18th is National Picnic Day and every June for the past three years I've celebrated with Louise from Months of Edible Celebrations and everybody else who contributes to the giant picnic basket in the online picnic game.  There's something so intriguing about a picnic.  Food tucked away in crinkly wrappers and firm-sided containers...silverware and plates that run from plastic to bamboo to silver...bottles of wine and a corkscrew with some plastic stemware or sturdy plastic cups...linen napkins or papertowels...all snuggled in a cooler or a romantic basket.  Picnics can be as simple and no-fuss as sandwiches, fresh cut fruit and veggies, potato chips, cookies and cold, bottled water.  Or they can be as luxurious and sexy as smoked salmon with cream cheese spread, red onions and capers atop homemade crackers, fresh fruit gallettes, and a bottle of wine.  I think that is part of the fun...part of the surprise!  The fantastic thing about an online picnic is the variety of food that is in the basket, all contributed by a different person from the letter A to the letter Z.

One of my favorite picnic foods is potato salad.  I love it because you can dress it up or dress it down.  Soak it in a tangy vinaigrette of fold it into a creamy mayonnaise.  It can be mild and unassuming or zest and in-your-face.  You could probably make a different type of potato salad for every person in the world.  This is my current favorite.  I love potatoes and fresh green beans together...and I love using baby potatoes or fingerlings in a variety of colors (it adds to the fun).  The vinaigrette alone is a fantastic dressing not only for the potato salad, but also for spinach salads or other dishes in place of a plainer vinaigrette.  Enjoy...and let the picnic games begin!

Fingerling Potato Salad w/ Honey-Thyme Vinaigrette
adapted from Midwest Living June '11
serves ~8

salad ingredients:
1½ lbs. Fingerling Potatoes
sea salt or kosher salt
8 oz. fresh green beans, ends snapped
1 smallish red onion, sliced paper thin
1 lb. bacon
~2 oz. Feta cheese

honey-thyme vinaigrette:
¼ c. cider vinegar
1 shallot, peeled
2 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves
1½ tsp. Dijon mustard
½ c. canola or vegetable oil
sea salt or kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

make the Honey-Thyme Vinaigrette:
Combine cider vinegar, shallot, honey, thyme leaves, and Dijon in the jar of a blender and process until smooth.  Throw in a couple pinches of salt and a few good grinds of pepper.  With blender running, slowly pour in oil in a steady stream until thick and glorious.  Set aside. (yield: ~1 c.)

prepping potato salad ingredients:
Place scrubbed potatoes in a large pot with water to cover by at least an inch.  Add about a teaspoon or so salt and bring to a boil.  Turn heat to a simmer and let cook ~8-10 minutes, or until just tender.  Drain and then spread the potatoes out on a sheet tray to cool until you are able to handle them.

Bring about a quart of salted water to a boil and add the green beans.  Let cook ~3 minutes, or until just al dente.  Quickly drain and shock the beans in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and hold in the bright color (no army green-beans here...).  Once they are cooled, drain beans for a few minutes.

By now the potatoes should be cool enough to handle.  I do prefer them to still be slightly warm, though.  This helps them soak up the vinaigrette.  Slice them in half lengthwise.  Add the potatoes to a large bowl with the green beans and red onion, then toss everything with about half of the vinaigrette.

Cover the bowl and store in the refrigerator* until ready to use.  In the meantime, I like to put the bacon in the freezer for ~½ hour, then take it out and slice it crosswise into ¼-½" strips.  Add the strips to a frying pan, pulling them apart from each other as you do a bit, with your fingers.  Cook gently, continuing to break the bits apart with your spoon, until just done.  Remove to a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon.  Once cool, store in a baggy or container at room temperature until ready to serve.  (Reserve bacon grease for another use.)

putting it all together:
When you are ready to serve your potato salad, toss everything in the bowl around again.  If you would like to add more of the vinaigrette, do that at this time (if not, reserve the remainder for another use).  Toss in the reserved bacon and crumble in the Feta and serve.

*I also like to eat this salad warm.  If you would like to do that, then have the bacon ready at the same time as your potatoes and green beans, then simply toss everything together and serve.

I'm going on a picnic and I'm bringing...*
Apricot Cobbler
Banana Cream Pie
Cherry Bars in a Jar
Diva Doggie Bites
Emeril's Strawberry Lemonade
FINGERLING POTATO SALAD W/ HONEY-THYME VINAIGRETTE




I am sharing this post with:

The Picnic Game @ Months of Edible Celebrations

 Tasty Tuesday at Naptime Creations

Bacon-Wrapped Cod w/ Rosemary and Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

I've been going through a major rosemary phase lately.  I mean, I've always loved rosemary...just like I love pretty much any herb...but I always wind up getting a crush on one particular herb for a certain period of time.   When that happens, I just can't get enough of it.  Right now, rosemary is the object of my affection.  Maybe it's all the talk of Tuscany lately.  Of course, I've been talking of Tuscany for years, so maybe not.  But something triggered it, and I believe I'll just enjoy this crush while it lasts and stop over-analyzing.  I've been trying to eat more consciously lately.  I want to add more fish and seafood back into my diet.  Our diets.  The difficulty in that is the lack of seafood-lovers (or even toleraters) in my  house.  While everybody is pretty open and willing to try most things around here...I get shot down at fish constantly.  I happen to love it.  I blame it on the fact that we are nowhere near the ocean.  If we lived near the ocean, they would smell the sea and taste the sea and they'd be begging me to bring it to their plates.  However, we do live close enough to some great lakes that you'd think at least trout or bluegill would be accepted willingly.  And you know, it might.  I just realize that I'm a horrible mom who never takes her kids fishing.  Okay, I didn't just realize...but I did just put it in writing.  I mean...I fished as a kid.  I caught crazy turtles and snakes and got chased around my grandma's farm by my cousin with a still-moving fish head on the end of a stick.  Why, oh why haven't I given my children the same opportunity?  Because I don't have any fishing poles.  Or a fishing license.  Or a hubs who enjoys fishing.  Aaahhh...  Anyway, my actual point being that I'm trying slowly but surely to introduce new (to the fam) types of fish and seafood into our diet.  When I can find good, fresh fish or seafood...it's going to make its way onto our plates and into our bellies.  What better way to start than to wrap in something everybody loves?  I mean, we all know that bacon makes everything better.  I found a great bacon-wrapped Cod recipe from Jamie's Food Revolution that worked wonders.  Simple, delicious, full of gorgeous flavors...and when I paired it with some beautiful potatoes...the response was "mmmmpppfff...nnnommm...chewwww...rrrmmmppphh..." {<----- my lame attempt at happy eating noises}.

Bacon-Wrapped Cod w/ Rosemary
and Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

1 chunky cod filet, per person (~7 oz., skin on or off)
3 slices bacon*, per person
2 sprigs rosemary, per person + extra for potatoes
olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
small handful Fingerling potatoes (any variety), per person

Preheat oven to 475° F.  Line a large sheet tray with foil or parchment.

preparing fingerlings:  Slice any thicker potatoes in half, lengthwise.  Bring a pot of salted water to a boil with potatoes.  Let bubble gently for ~5 minutes.  You want them to just start getting tender.  They will finish cooking in the oven and get some nice, golden edges, as well.  Drain and set aside while preparing cod.

preparing cod: Pick leaves from one of the stems of rosemary for each person, then chop them up fairly finely.  Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over the rosemary, then drizzle it all with olive oil and mix it up with your fingers.  Roll each piece of cod in the mixture until they're coated all around with the mixture.  Set aside.

Lay three slices of bacon down next to each other, slightly overlapping and then place a slice of cod on top (skin side up) and wrap the bacon around, leaving the "seam" on the bottom or bottom edge.  Place on prepared sheet pan.  Repeat with all of the cod and bacon.  Set the second (still whole) sprig of rosemary for each serving on the top of the bacon-wrapped fish and drizzle a bit more olive oil over each.  Try to keep all of your fish on one side of the sheet pan, if there's enough room to still leave a little space between each.

both:  Transfer the slightly cooled potatoes to the other half of the prepared sheet tray.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper...and chop a little extra rosemary and throw that on, too.  Toss them around with your fingers a bit, then slide the whole tray into the oven.  If you have too many servings to put both on the same tray, then use two trays.

Slide the tray(s) into the oven and cook for ~10-12 minutes, until the fish is cooked all the way through and the bacon and potatoes are golden with bits of crisp edges.

Serve one bacon-wrapped piece of cod per person with the fingerlings divided amongst each plate.

*You may want to cook your bacon about halfway through before doing this step.  If your bacon is particularly thick, it may not get done by the time the fish is ready...and there's not much worse than over-cooked fish.  If you decide to do this, you could use the rendered fat to toss the potatoes with just before they go into the oven, in place of the olive oil.

Our theme at IHCC this week is Mad About Herbs!

*I am also sharing this post with: