A few days ago I talked about how I was drowning in eggs, now I'm drowning in lettuce! Between my garden & Breezy Willow's CSA, it's a lettuce-splosion. It must be time to break out the salads. How about a Niçoise salad?!
I love Niçoise salad - and this is the best time of year to make it. The green beans are fresh off of the vine. The potatoes are fresh out of the earth. And the lettuce is fresh cut from the farm.
Since it's warming up outside, lettuce is getting bitter. So - I took my time with this meal. I filled my sink with cold water and let the lettuce soak for a half hour or so while I made the hard boiled eggs. I'm notoriously bad at making hard boiled eggs. I scoured the web and my Nana's cookbooks for ideas. I settled on a mix and here's what I did:
Hard Boiled Eggs: - as many large eggs as you can fit in the bottom of pasta pot. Do not layer the eggs. - fill the water up to 1 inch over the eggs - bring the water and eggs up to a rapid boil - cover the pot - turn off heat - scoot the pot off of the hot burner - set the timer for 17 mins - while the eggs set, get a large bowl full of ice and cold water - when the 17 mins are up, scoop the eggs into the ice water bath - set the timer for 10 mins - when the timer is up, scoop out the eggs & remove the shell. I'm not good at removing the shell, so if you have any ideas let me know! - put the eggs in the fridge until you're ready to serve
Here's how I pulled the rest of the salad together:
Ingredients: - 4-5 red potatoes - 4 tuna steaks - large bunch of mixed lettuce - olives: my little eater isn't ready for punchy Niçoise olives so we went with salty/sweet California black olives. Pick your favorite - 1 pound of green beans, trimmed - 4-5 hard boiled eggs - sesame seeds - dressing: mix a tbsp Dijon mustard, tbsp honey, a splash of sherry or champagne vinegar, 4-5 tbsp olive oil, and a pinch or two of salt. Whisk & adjust ingredients deepending on your taste.
Method: - in a large salad-capable bowl, make your salad dressing - quarter potatoes & boil them until cooked through, allow to cool while you work on the rest of the meal - in another pan steam the green beans in batches & shock them in cold water to stop the cooking process. - add the washed & dried lettuce to the dressing bowl (don't toss it yet.) - pat the tuna steaks dry and coat both sides with salt & sesame seeds - in a large skillit, sear the living daylights out of those beautiful tuna steaks. I prefer mine on the rare side, but my 4 year old needs them to be cooked a bit more. So just keep a close eye on them. - toss the lettuce, olives, cooled potatoes & green beans in the salad dressing. - top with the seared tuna & hard boiled eggs
Isn't that pan enormous? It was a much needed addition to the collection. It made quick work of the tuna steaks and makes a ton of bacon in the morning! So back to the salad. If you're making this for 2, cut the ingredients in half. OR - keep the ingredients separate and toss each bowl together individually. This makes for awesome leftovers.
What salads are you tossing up this summer?