potato and onion salad with smoked salmon

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potatoes onion salad lettuce salmon fish

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This salad is wonderful with new little peanut potatoes! But any kind of waxy potato will work wonderfully (even the purple ones!). You can use any kind of flaky smoked fish for this recipe, but I’m more likely to have salmon than anything else! If you don’t eat fish, you can substitute 2 tablespoons rinsed, drained capers for a briny flavor (along with the olives).

The recipe is based on one in Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors. It looks like a lot of lettuce, but the hot potatoes wilt it down to almost nothing—it’s just a wonderful green color without much bulk, once you mix everything together.

1 ½ pounds peanut potatoes (or other waxy variety)
sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, or 2 small onions, sliced thinly into rounds (red onions are lovely!)
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
16 green olives, pitted and halved (you can use black kalamata olives if that’s all you have, but the green are very pretty)
6 ounces smoked salmon, flaked
8 cups lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces

1. Cover the potatoes with cold salted water and bring to a boil. While they are cooking, toss the onion with the vinegar, sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt and let sit for a few minutes. Then add the oil, olives, and fish (or capers).
2. When the potatoes are fork-tender, drain them, then cut in half lengthwise if they are small. Cut into bite-sized pieces if they are bigger. While still hot, add them to the bowl along with the lettuce. Turn gently with a rubber scraper. Taste for salt and season with pepper.