Salad Niçoise
A delicious salad that is best served as an entrée. If you would prefer
to serve it as an appetizer or salad coarse, reduce amount of tuna to 1 to 2 ounces per person.
Canned tuna makes this dish a snap but fresh grilled tuna makes it a huge crowd pleaser.
Grill or sear your tuna and serve it hot or do cook it ahead and serve it cold.
Serves: 4 (Serving Size: 2/3 Cup)
Ingredients:
- 2 6-oz. cans albacore tuna, drained or
1 lb. tuna steak, approximately 1" thick (albacore or ahi)
- 1 Tbsp. crushed pepper corns
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 3 small red potatoes, scrubbed
- 3 Tbsps. red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 4 Tbsps. olive oil
- 4 cups cleaned and dried mixed baby greens
- 1 head endive, leaves cleaned and separated
- 3 hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters
- ½ small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 medium tomato, cut into wedges
- 4 radishes, thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsps. capers
- 8 anchovy filets (optional)
- Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions:
- For canned tuna: drain thoroughly and use a fork to flake it into ¾-1 inch chunks. Set aside. For grilled tuna: Rub each side of tuna steak with olive oil and rub in cracked pepper. On a rack set 4-6 inches over glowing coals or medium-heat on a gas grill, grill the tuna for 4 minutes per side until cooked through. The albacore should be slightly pink. For seared Ahi, grill 2½ minutes per side. After 5 minutes, slice tuna into ½-inch slices. Set aside.
- Place the potatoes in cold water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer until just tender, about 12-15 minutes; immediately plunge them into ice water to stop cooking process. Quarter potatoes.
- Combine the vinegar and mustard in a small bowl. Whisk in oil in a steady stream. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the quartered potatoes with about 1 Tbsp. of dressing.
- Place the lettuce in a large salad bowl. Add dressing to lightly coat the lettuce (all but about 3 Tbsps.); Toss, mixing well.
- Decoratively arrange endive leaves on plate and place ¼ of lettuce mixture on each plate. Arrange the eggs, onions, tomatoes, radishes, olives, capers, anchovies and tuna over the lettuce. Sprinkle the remaining dressing over salads.
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