Tony Jackman’s salad of smoked salmon, asparagus and baby potatoes with rocket, radish, dill, chives and garlicky chunks of toasted sourdough. (Photo: Tony Jackman) 
No other salad I ever make again will be good enough if it is not as good as or better than this one. Somehow, I inadvertently set a new benchmark with this utterly scrumptious salad.
The garlic plays a significant role but there’s much more going on than that pungent little allium. Isn’t it funny how the most strongly flavoured of this family of onions, garlic is the tiniest one?
Equally strong in the mix – surprisingly – is dill. This slight little herb has a vaguely anise flavour but somehow not quite – its taste is hard to pinpoint. All we need to know is that it is fabulous with fish. And somewhere in this salad (I know, it’s rather well disguised in the photo) is smoked trout. You can see it peeking out here and there.
But I don’t mind it being disguised, because as much as this salad is about that trout, it is also about the lovely asparagus spears, rocket and red onion, and those baby potatoes, but possibly most of all those chunks of crunchy sourdough baguette soaked in garlicky olive oil. Yes, sourdough baguette, which I found at my fancy local Checkers. I tore off chunks, dipped them in garlicky oil with thyme and coarse salt, and toasted them under a grill.
There’s also thyme in the olive oil, which may seem strange in conjunction with dill, but when you taste the toasted sourdough you’ll know that it works.
In the dressing are lots of garlic, dill, snipped chives, Dijon mustard and a touch of botanical vinegar.
The baby potatoes are drenched in the salad dressing before the rest of it is spooned all over the salad once assembled.
Ingredients
100 g cold-smoked, oak-smoked trout ribbons
8-10 asparagus spears
40 g baby rocket leaves
4 radishes, sliced thinly
14 baby potatoes, unpeeled
1 small or ½ a larger red onion, thinly sliced
16 to 20 small chunks of sourdough baguette or similar bread
2 fat garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
⅓ cup olive oil
20 thyme leaves, picked from their stems
2 pinches coarse salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
For the dressing:
3 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
⅓ cup olive oil
2 Tbsp botanical vinegar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp fresh dill
10 chives, snipped
A pinch of coarse salt
A pinch of ground black pepper
Method
Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside for the flavours to develop while you make the salad.
Break the ends off the asparagus spears and put the asparagus in a bowl. Boil a kettle, pour it over them to cover, let it stand for 3 minutes and drain in a colander. Pour cold water over them and leave to drain.
Boil the baby potatoes, without peeling them, in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes, then drain in a colander and leave to cool.
Pull the sourdough apart manually. In a small bowl, mix ⅓ cup olive oil with 2 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped, thyme leaves, 2 pinches of coarse salt and a pinch of black pepper.
Dip the chunks of sourdough in the flavoured oil and place them on a baking tray (add more oil if necessary). Put them under a grill for a few minutes for them to toast until golden. Leave to cool.
Place the drained and cooled baby potatoes in a medium bowl and add half of the salad dressing. Toss to coat.
Arrange the smoked salmon, asparagus, rocket, radishes and red onion attractively on a platter, leaving a “moat” of space around the edge for the dressed potatoes.
Arrange the potatoes around the edge, scatter the toasted sourdough chunks here and there, and spoon the remaining dressing over the salad. DM
Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.
Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.