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Purple potato, tomato and bacon salad with Old Bay and mustard dressing

Yields1 ServingPrep Time15 minsCook Time30 minsTotal Time45 mins

A delightful summery salad to make whilst in tomato season is made all the better if you can get some heritage purple potatoes, don't worry if you can't, any good quality small potatoes will suffice. Old Bay seasoning is a classic American seasoning which believe it or not has only just arrived on sale in the UK. Omit the bacon if you want to go vegan and replace with some smoked tofu and make the dressing clearly without the bacon oil.

 1 tbsp Olive oil for frying the bacon
 500 g Purple or alternative small potatoes, cut in half or quarters if large
 250 g Small cherry or plum tomatoes cut in half, try and get different colours if you can
 6 Slices of smoked streaky bacon chopped into 1 inch pieces
 ½ Red onion, sliced thinly into half moons
 2 tbsp Vinegar of choice, I used an artisan Malt
 Sugar and salt to season the onions
 Chopped chives to garnish
Dressing
 2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
 2 tbsp Cider Vinegar
 1 tsp Wholegrain mustard
 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
Serves 3-4 if you're lucky!
1

Firstly macerate the onions by placing them in a small bowl, cover them with your vinegar of choice and season with a pinch of salt and sugar and stir through and leave until you assemble the salad.

2

Heat a small pan of salted water, boil the potatoes until cooked, drain and set aside in a colander to steam dry a little and cool down

3

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and add the bacon and cook stirring all the time until the bacon is nice and crisp then remove the bacon with a slotted spoon onto some kitchen paper to drain and crisp up nice and crunchy, leave the bacon oil in the pan to cool.

Dressing
4

You can whisk the dressing in a small bowl or I find it's always easier just to shake the dressing in a small jar and shake, whatever you are using combine the extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, mustard and Old bay with the cooled bacon oil from the pan and whisk or shake away until it's all together. Taste for seasoning and piquancy adding a pinch of salt or more vinegar if you choose.

Salad assembly
5

In a large bowl add the warm potatoes and the tomatoes, add the dressing and stir gently being careful not to break up the potatoes and then gently tip out onto a serving plate or bowl.

6

Sprinkle the cooked bacon over the salad, along with the pickled onions and finish with a sprinkle of the chopped chives, grab a fork and tuck in.