Warm New Potato Salad with Bacon & Blue Cheese

Here's a fantastic recipe and another one that I've made several times now but for some reason haven't got round to writing about.

Salad doesn't always sound like the most exciting option on the menu but this one is so much more than just a salad and the fact that it's warm means that it's just as nice to eat in the winter as it is in the summer.

It's not the quickest salad to throw together as the potatoes and onions need to be roasted for 40 minutes and then left to cool for a bit so your salad leaves don't dissolve into a soggy mess on contact. That said though, if you're not under pressure to get dinner on the table quickly then it's relatively hassle-free.

Warm potatoes, bacon, blue cheese...what's not to like? It's definitely a dinner I particularly look forward to when it's on the menu.

Warm New Potato Salad with Bacon & Blue Cheese
(from BBC Good Food Magazine)

500g/1lb 2oz salad potatoes, halved
2 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, each sliced into 6 wedges
4 rashers smoked bacon, trimmed and cut into large pieces
140g/5oz mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (Dijon mustard works just aswell)
1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
100g bag mixed watercress and spinach salad (or any other mixed leaves you fancy)
85g/3oz creamy blue cheese, eg St Agur

1) Heat the oven to 220c/fan 200c/gas 7. Place the potatoes in a roasting tin, then rub with 1 tbsp oil and a sprinkling of salt. Roast for 20 minutes, then add the onion wedges to the tin and everything a good shake.  Roast for 20 minutes more until the potatoes have turned a deep golden brown and the onions have caramelised and softened. Leave to cool slightly.

2) Heat a non-stick frying pan and dry-fry the bacon until crisp. Add the sliced mushrooms and fry for 5 minutes more until they have softened.

3) Meanwhile, make the dressing. Whisk the mustard, vinegar and remaining 1 tbsp oil with a splash of water. Place the potatoes, onions, bacon and mushrooms in a large bowl with the salad leaves, pour over the dressing and mix well. Divide between 4 plates (see below!), then crumble over the blue cheese.

Serves 4 - that's 4 very small people presumably. Two of us can polish this off in one sitting without breaking a sweat.