Chorizo & Fig Salad

Anyone who knows me knows that I would eat a bag of plain arugula to my face at the drop of a hat. If arugula is involved, I am down to clown. I was recently on the road for three weeks, two of which were spent in a hotel. When I was in New York at my girlfriend's house, all I wanted to do was cook. In fact, this is the same friend that was going to share this blog with me! We named it Queens of Bay and were going to do it together. We cooked our meal for the first post and she admitted that it would take too much time and she had to bow out, so it became a joke that the queens were myself and my ex boyfriend. Now the queens are me, myself, and I but that has never stopped me from cooking anywhere I can. If I have a sous chef, wonderful! If I don't, whateva. I am just happy in the kitchen.

I was working from her house last week and she tasked me to find something to make in her Food and Wine magazines that were around. I landed on a chorizo and fig salad because I saw arugula and that was that. Everything in this recipe goes so well together - each bite had different but wonderful flavors. It sounds sort of random when you look at the ingredients, but it somehow works. The bitterness of the arugula and licorice taste of the fennel cuts the sweetness of the figs, and the cooked chorizo adds a nice amount of saltiness to it all. 

Enjoy, y'all.
Ingredients:

1 pound fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise
1 pound Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon honey Dijon mustard 
3/4 pound fresh green and purple figs, each cut into 4 wedges
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 cup unrefined sunflower oil
1/2 small fennel bulb, halved, cored and thinly sliced
2 bunches of arugula, tough stems discarded

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes, then flip the potatoes and add the chorizo. Continue to roast for 15 minutes longer, until the potatoes and chorizo are golden and tender. Carefully toss with 2 tablespoons of the vinegar and roast for 5 minutes longer, until the vinegar is reduced and the potatoes are crisp. Let cool slightly.


2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of vinegar with the mustard. While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the sunflower oil and whisk until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Arrange the potatoes, chorizo, figs, fennel and arugula on plates. Drizzle the dressing over the top. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the remaining dressing.