Summer is here part one- time to make Salad Nicoise

 

My brother emailed recently to say he had just made his first Salad Nicoise of the summer. ( Well it was only 15 degrees and raining there as I wrote this Blog on Friday morning, the second day of Eid). As it is 32 degrees here in Bahrain ( 7 am) and predicted to hit 40 this week , I thought I too would make some summer dishes and share them with you. 

                         

                                A gift from my brother, full of wonderful French Recipes!

Years ago my brother, Andrew, bought me a French cookery book ( he uses it all the time) by Julia Child, which has a very detailed Salad Nicoise Recipe in. Sadly , however, that is now in Palawan so I searched on the internet and found another one:

                          My version of the Classic Salad Nicoise

RECIPE COURTESY OF FOOD NETWORK KITCHEN

From: Food Network Magazine

Classic Nicoise Salad

• Level: Easy
• Total: 55 min

• Prep: 45 min
• Cook: 10 min

• Yield: 4 servings

 

                                       Boiling the new potatoes

Ingredients

 450 grams / 1 pound red-skinned potatoes, sliced 1/3 inch thick

Kosher salt

2 tablespoons dry white wine

 300grams/ 10 ounces haricots verts or thin green beans, trimmed

4 large eggs

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

Freshly ground pepper

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

8 cherry tomatoes or small cocktail tomatoes, halved or quartered

1 head Boston lettuce, leaves separated

6 radishes, trimmed and quartered

 723 grams / 2 5 1/2-ounce cans Italian or Spanish tuna packed in olive oil, drained

1/2 cup Nicoise olives

Directions

1.     Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan; cover with cold water and season with salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook until fork-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and transfer to a medium bowl; drizzle with the wine and let cool. Reserve the saucepan.

 Boiling the green beans having snapped off the ends with your fingers

2.     Meanwhile, bring a separate saucepan of salted water to a boil. Fill a bowl with salted ice water. Add the haricots verts to the boiling water; cook until crisp-tender and bright green, 2 to 4 minutes. Drain and immediately plunge into the ice water to cool; drain and pat dry.

3.     Place the eggs in the reserved saucepan and cover with cold water by about 1 inch. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then cover, remove from the heat and let stand, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, then run under cold water to cool. Peel under cold running water.

                                 Making the dressing

4.     Make the dressing: Whisk the vinegar, shallot, mustard, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste in a bowl. Whisk in the olive oil in a slow, steady stream until emulsified.

5.     Toss the tomatoes in a small bowl with salt and pepper to taste. Add about 1/4 cup dressing to the potatoes and toss. Quarter the hard-boiled eggs.

  

            I will serve my salad later in the week so left it in the bowl

6.     Divide the lettuce among 4 plates. Arrange the potatoes, haricots verts, radishes, hard-cooked eggs and tuna on top. Pour any juices from the tomatoes into the dressing, then add the tomatoes to the plates. Drizzle with the dressing and top with the olives.

Source: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/classic-nicoise-salad-recipe-2127613 ( accessed 14.5.21

There will be more dishes for the summer in my blogs in the weeks ahead

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