Summer Salad

My current FAVORITE salad is the Niçoise  Salad.

 

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I have loved this salad for a long time, but recently rediscovered it when grabbing a quick dinner at the Nordstrom café with my daughters.

My super yum out salad from Nordstroms.

I ordered this salad with grilled chicken instead of the salmon.

I also like the salad with grilled tuna, which is what the recipe normally calls for.

 

There are many variations on the Niçoise Salad recipe and I wanted to find one that had the key ingredients that I love: Kalamata olives, capers, and a perfect Balsamic dressing.

Here is a recipe that I like:

Niçoise Salad

 

Vinaigrette Ingredients

 

1/2 cup lemon juice

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium shallot, minced

1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves

2 Tbsp minced fresh basin leaves

2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano leaves

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Salad

• 2 grilled or otherwise cooked tuna steaks* (8 oz each) or 2-3 cans of tuna
• 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and either halved or quartered
• 10 small new red potatoes (each about 2 inches in diameter, about 1 1/4 pounds total), each potato scrubbed and quartered
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 medium heads Boston lettuce or butter lettuce, leaves washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 3 small ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into eighths
• 1 small red onion, sliced very thin
• 8 ounces green beans, stem ends trimmed and each bean halved crosswise
• 1/4 cup niçoise or Kalamata olives
• 2 Tbsp capers, rinsed and/or several anchovies (optional)

*Marinate tuna steaks in a little olive oil for an hour. Heat a large skillet on medium high heat, or place on a hot grill. Cook the steaks 2 to 3 minutes on each side until cooked through.

 

Method

 



1 Whisk lemon juice, oil, shallot, thyme, basil, oregano, and mustard in medium bowl; season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

 

2 Bring potatoes and 4 quarts cold water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and cook until potatoes are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl with a slotted spoon (do not discard boiling water). Toss warm potatoes with 1/4 cup vinaigrette; set aside.

 

3 While potatoes are cooking, toss lettuce with 1/4 cup vinaigrette in large bowl until coated. Arrange bed of lettuce on a serving platter. Cut tuna into 1/2-inch thick slices, coat with vinaigrette. Mound tuna in center of lettuce. Toss tomatoes, red onion, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste in bowl; arrange tomato-onion mixture on the lettuce bed. Arrange reserved potatoes in a mound at edge of lettuce bed.

 

4 Return water to boil; add 1 tablespoon salt and green beans. Cook until tender but crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain beans, transfer to reserved ice water, and let stand until just cool, about 30 seconds; dry beans well. Toss beans, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste; arrange in a mound at edge of lettuce bed.

 

5 Arrange hard boiled eggs, olives, and anchovies (if using) in mounds on the lettuce bed. Drizzle eggs with remaining 2 tablespoons dressing, sprinkle entire salad with capers, and serve immediately.

recipe source

 

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When I make this myself, I don't use a platter, I make individual salads using soup plates.

I also use grilled chicken or have used the canned albacore tuna.

I am all about saving time so I have also used the bagged Romaine lettuce or the organic field greens that come in a box from Costco...if you have a store bought balsamic vinaigrette that you love, you can use that to save time also.

 

Bon Appetit!