Sunday, February 21, 2010

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.

29 comments:

  1. OH...MY....GOSH! This looks delicious.

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  2. I have to try the potato salad with red onions and bacon. My daughter would love it!

    Great winter recipes.

    Thanks for the nice compliments of my mosaic!

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  3. That does look good! I love German potato salad but Howard isn't crazy about it...I am laughing about the cooking of the salmon outside!
    I did make the Chicken Florentine for dinner tonight...it is definitely a winner! Thanks for posting the recipe.

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  4. My mom used to make a delicious German potato salad much like yours. I do love salmon and would love to dine on these tasty dishes this evening ;-)
    Hugs and blessings,
    Small Reflections

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  5. Oh you can never have too much bacon..and you know how I feel about fish..Love the Spinach salad, hold the beans. Potato salad looks good too.
    We barely made 39 today, and windy. You live in paradise, LOL!

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  6. Wonderful pictures and recipes! Do you think you can teach me to cook like that?

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  7. I make German potatoe salad just like that.....I have a German friend who told me her recipe......you reminded me I have not made it in a long time!!~ Thanks for popping on over!

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  8. All that food looks great. Not a huge fan of salmon, but I do eat it occasionally since it is so good for you. You grilled out in forty degree weather. Not me. Has to be warmer than that. We were in the mid sixties today. Just gorgeouse

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  9. This is my kind of dinner! I love German Potato Salad and the Hoisin salmon looks incredible. Mmmmm, spinach salad. It's all good!

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  10. Everything looks delicious ... I LOVE German potato salad and haven't made it for a while. (I've been using the canned stuff. :( It's OK but not as good as homemade.) And I'm sure you can never have too much bacon. Love spinach salad but definitely WITH the bacon. :) Besides the salmon is so healthy is makes up for all the bacon. Your sure looks tasty.

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  11. This all looks delicious! Especially the salmon. Can't wait till it's warm enough to grill here! :)

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  12. Delicious recipes. We grill right through winter with a BBQ in the garage and then out on the deck when it's warmed up.

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  13. What a healthy and delicious meal! Wonderful flavor combinations of that plate and I bet your family all loved it. I can't wait to grill again once it warms up a little.

    happy MM!

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  14. Aren't you being the adventurous soul!!

    I don't think I've ever had German potato salad..will have to check out the recipe.

    The spinach salad look great..even with the beans!

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  15. These look wonderful! I was just thinking about German Potato Salad, the other day. It's been awhile since I made it. Yours looks so good, you've inspired me!

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  16. Oh, my. This all looks great, but I've got all the ingredients for the spinach salad ... try that first!

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  17. The German potato salad looks wonderful.

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  18. What great recipes! Thanks for sharing!

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  19. That potato salad looks yummy. I'm not a big salmon fan although where we used to live we did enjoy using our grill even in the winter so good for you doing that and yes it does keep the house from getting that fishy smell. ~Jeanne

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  20. It is 6 pm and my mouth is watering here! Yummy!

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  21. Wow, looks totally delish! I'm going to have to try the salmon. Great blog!

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  22. Thanks for visiting my blog and for your nice comments. Your recipes look delicious! I'll have to try them.
    JoAnn

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  23. I love salmon so I will definitely be trying your recipe. Thanks for stopping by for a visit.
    Rhondi

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  24. Mmm, I'm not a fish-lover, but the salads look delicious! Thanks for sharing at MM. :)

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  25. I'm loving that potato salad recipe. I used to make a German Potato salad but have no idea where the recipe is. Can't wait to try yours!

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  26. YUm it all looks delicious to me. I LOVE salmon!

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  27. The spinach salad looks and sounds fabulous to me. :)

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  28. I have never had german potato salad but it sure looks like you got lots of rave reviews. The salmon recipe is bookmarked :)

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  29. Delicious recipes. We grill right through winter with a BBQ in the garage and then out on the deck when it's warmed up.

    Work From Home

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Thank you for taking the time to comment. They are fun to read and very much appreciated! Sorry for comment moderation, the spam has been overwhelming lately.

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