Mosaic Monday: Salads for a Warm Winter's Day!

Joining Mary at the Little Red House for Mosaic Monday! Check out more fabulous Mosaics over at the Little Red House.

Well, today was another warm winter's day, a great day to grill, so I thought we'd try out some new recipes that I had on the "to try" list. Even surprised myself and actually made salmon again. Still not cooking it in the house, too smelly, I have a tendency to burn things, we'd been smelling salmon for days. It's definitely and out door thing for now. It was in the 40's, what a strange winter, we're back to freezing snow and rain Monday night, but it the meantime, it was a perfect day to grill. Tried a new glaze for the salmon, made with hoisin sauce. Being the compulsive pantry shopper that I am, I just happened to have a jar in the cabinet. and it wasn't even dated 2006!

All in all, these three new ones are all keepers! At the suggestion of my friend, Renee, also known as Bubbe, the only thing I changed to the Spinach salad was to add walnuts and omit the bacon. We already had bacon in the potato salad, so that would have been too much of a good thing! Great suggestion, thanks Renee, and if I'm not too lazy, next time I'll toast them first. I thought of that one after the fact. Normal for me :)

Warm German Potato Salad
Source: Martha Stewart's Everyday Food
Printable Recipe

Salt and ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds small new potatoes, scrubbed
3 slices bacon, thinly sliced crosswise
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
3 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard

In a 5-quart saucepan, bring 1 inch salted water to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Add potatoes. Cover; cook until tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, 25 to 30 minutes. Drain; cool slightly, and halve.

In a small skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add onion. Cook, stirring often, until tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat; add 3 tablespoons vinegar and mustard.

Toss with warm potatoes. If desired, season with salt and pepper, and add up to 1 tablespoon more vinegar. Serve warm.

Spinach, White-Bean and Red-Onion Salad
Source: Food and Wine - January 1998
Printable Recipe

My notes: I used Champagne vinegar. Didn't make the bread part of the recipe, although it sounded good. I used walnuts, omitted the bacon as per Bubbe's excellent suggestion! Next time, I'd give them a little toast in the skillet first! I cut the recipe a bit and used one bag baby spinach, half a red onion and one can of beans for four of us!
4 3/4-inch-thick slices country bread or sourdough bread
1/4 pound sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
2 red onions, sliced thin
3 tablespoons wine vinegar
4 cups drained and rinsed canned cannellini beans (two 19-ounce cans)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
4 pounds spinach, stems removed, leaves washed well
2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat the oven to 450°. Put the bread on a baking sheet and toast until lightly browned, turning once, about 5 minutes.

In a large frying pan, cook the bacon over moderate heat until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Add the onions to the bacon fat and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, the beans, 3/4 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper. Mix gently and remove from the heat.

Put the spinach in a large glass or stainless-steel bowl. Add the remaining tablespoon of vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, the oil, and the bacon to the bowl and toss. Stir half of the bean mixture into the spinach and put the salad on plates. Top each slice of toasted bread with the remaining bean mixture and serve with the salad.

Hoisin-Glazed Salmon
Source: Food and Wine, recipe by Marcia Kiesel
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry white wine
1 teaspoon honey
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Four 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 450°. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven. In a small bowl, combine the hoisin, soy sauce, wine, honey and garlic.

In a large, ovenproof, nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Place them in the skillet, skinned-side up, and sear over high heat until browned on the bottom, about 30 seconds. Flip the fillets and spoon half of the hoisin glaze over them.

Transfer the skillet to the top rack of the oven and roast the salmon for 3 minutes. Spoon the remaining hoisin glaze over the fillets and roast for another 3 minutes. Baste the fillets with the glaze in the pan and roast until just cooked through, about 2 minutes longer.

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