Turning the humble potato salad into a thing of beauty, with a touch of salmon and pomegranate

Summer recipes

Potato salad is turned into something with a real dash of panache by our kitchen garden cook Melanie Johnson.

‘Light and fresh flavours can be comforting, as in this week’s recipe,’ says Melanie Johnson.

‘It gives the humble potato salad a stylish makeover.’

Recipe: New potato salad with salmon, tzatziki, feta and pomegranate

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the potato salad

1kg baby new potatoes
3tbspn hemp (or olive) oil
75g garden peas
75g soy beans
Half a cucumber
Fresh mint sprigs
1 avocado, sliced

For the tzatziki

Half a cucumber
500ml Greek yoghurt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3tbspn chopped mint
Juice of half a lemon

For the salmon

500g salmon fillet
2 spring onions, chopped
100g feta cheese, crumbled
75g pomegranate seeds

Method

Preheat your oven to 180˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4. Put the potatoes onto a baking sheet and toss in the oil to coat them fully, then roast for about 40 minutes or until tender.

Add the salmon fillets to the hot tray of potatoes 25 minutes before they’re due to come out of the oven.

Boil the peas and soy beans according to the packet instructions, drain and set them aside until you’re ready to assemble the potato salad. Peel the half cucumber into ribbons with a vegetable peeler and set aside.

To prepare the tzatziki, cut the second half cucumber in half again, lengthways. Scoop out the seeds and slice it very thinly. Put it into a colander, sprinkle with a little salt and set aside.

In a bowl, mix together the yoghurt, garlic, mint, lemon juice and some seasoning. Pat any excess water from the cucumber slices and add them to the tzatziki mixture. Taste for balance, adjust, then cover and refrigerate.

Once the potatoes are lightly browned and tender and the salmon is cooked with a golden crust, remove the tray from the oven. Season everything.

Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl. Scatter in the peas and soy beans, placing sprigs of mint among them, together with the ribbons of cucumber.

Next, arrange the slices of avocado and, finally, spoon the tzatziki over everything.

Put the salmon fillet on a serving plate and scatter with the spring onions, feta and pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately, with extra tzatziki on the side.