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Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes |
Ready In: 30 Minutes Servings: 6 |
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Prepare all your vegetables before you begin cooking th potatoes and this salad will come together very easily. The classic garnish of tiny, briny, piquant Nicoise olives is a hallmark of salade nicoise. If they are not available, sustitute another small, black olive (do not use canned olives). If you cannot find tuna packed in olive oil, substitute water-packed solid white tuna, not tuna packed in vegetable oil. Compose the salad on your largest, widest, flattest serving platter. Do not blanket the bed of lettuce with the other ingredients; leave some space between the mounds of potatoes, tomatoes and onions, and beans so that leaves of lettuce peek through. Ingredients:
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons) |
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil |
1 medium shallot, minced |
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, minced |
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, minced |
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves, minced |
1 teaspoon dijon mustard |
table salt |
ground black pepper |
4 large eggs |
10 small red potatoes, each potato scrubbed and quartered (each about 2-inches in diameter, about 1 1/4 lb. in total) |
table salt |
ground black pepper |
2 tablespoons dry vermouth |
2 medium boston lettuce (about 8 cups loosely packed) or 2 medium bibb lettuce, leaves washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces (about 8 cups loosely packed) |
2 (6 ounce) cans tuna packed in oil, drained |
3 small tomatoes, vine-ripened, 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 nicoise olive |
Directions:
1. FOR THE VINAIGRETTE:.
2. Whisk lemon juice, oil, shallot, thyme, basil, oregano, and mustard in medium bowl; season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
3. FOR THE SALAD:.
4. Place eggs in small saucean, cover by 1-inch with cold water, and bring to boil over high heat. Remove pan from heat. Cover and let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fill medium bowl with 1 quart water and 1 tray ice cubes. With slotted spoon, transfer eggs to ice water; let stand 5 minutes. Peel eggs and quarter lengthwise; set aside. (reserve ice water).
5. Meanwhile, bring potatoes and 4 quarts cold water to boil in large Dutch oven or stockpot over high heat. Add 1 tablespoons salt and cook until potatoes are tender when poked with paring knife, 5-8 minutes. With slotted spoon, gently transfer potatoes to medium bowl (do not discard boiling water). Toss warm potatoes with vermouth and salt and pepper to taste; let stand for 1 minute. Toss in 1/4 cup vinaigrette; set aside.
6. While potatoes cook, toss lettuce with 1/4 cup vinaigrette in large bowl until coated. Arrange bed of lettuce on very large flat serving platter. Place tuna in now empty bowl and break up with a fork. Add 1/2 cup vinaigrette and stir to combine. Mound tuna in center of lettuce. Toss tomatoes, red onion, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette and salt and pepper to taste in now-empty bowl; arrange tomato-onion mixture in mound at edge of lettuce bed. Arrange reserved potatoes in separate mound at edge of lettuce bed.
7. Return water to boil; add 1 tablespoons salt and green beans. Cook until tender but crisp, 3-5 minutes. Drain beans, transfer to ice water, and let stand until just cool, about 30 seconds. Dry beans well on triple layer of paper towels. Toss beans, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette and salt and pepper to taste in now empty bowl; arrange in separate mound at edge of lettuce bed.
8. Arrange reserved eggs and olives in separate mounds at edge of lettuce bed. Drizzle eggs with remaining 2 Tbsp dressing. Anchovies can be used in a separate mound if wanted, and a sprinkle of capers can be used over the entire salad if wanted.
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