New Potato Salad with Asparagus and Shallot Vinaigrette

I still can't figure out why this salad was so seriously delicious.  Something about the combo of horseradish mustard, vinegar, potatoes, and asparagus created an amazingly savory/creamy/umami flavor that was far more impressive than the sum of the parts.

I doubled this recipe, but it turned out to need far more dressing.  Also, the potatoes took quite a bit longer to cook than specified.  I used horseradish mustard (liberally), and instead of mustard seed and dill I used celery seed.

 New Potato Salad with Asparagus and Shallot Vinaigrette

(adapted from maple spice)

Ingredients

1 lb baby new potatoes, washed and dried and cut into wedges

lots of extra virgin olive oil

smoked sea salt and freshly ground pepper (or regular sea salt)

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1 large bunch asparagus, sliced into 1" segments

olive oil

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1 large shallot, diced fine

3 TB olive oil

2 TB red wine vinegar

1 TB horseradish mustard

1/2 tsp smoked sea salt (again, regular is fine!)

1/4 tsp celery seeds

few grinds of black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.  Toss potatoes in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and place in a baking dish.  Roast in the oven, stirring occasionally, for 30-40 minutes, or until potatoes are tender but not mushy.  If desired, place under the broiler for the last 5 minutes or so to get a crispy brown skin.
2. In a frying pan, lightly saute asparagus in olive oil.  When cooked, remove from heat and set aside.
3. Combine dressing ingredients.  When potatoes are cooked and cooled, combine potatoes with asparagus and dressing, making and adding more dressing if desired.  Serves about 3.