August 7, 2012

Salade Nicoise

from Saveur, June/July 2012


This was such a beautiful way to showcase and enjoy all these delicious vegetables in the middle of summer. The garlic and shallot dressing was great, and the leftover dressing was also really good on steak and arugula salad. A couple of notes: the green beans should be thrown into a pretty big pot of boiling water (enough water that it maintains temp and doesn't stop boiling when beans are added). Boil about 45 seconds to 1 minute to blanch them until they are a gorgeous green. Blanched green beans lose the rough outside texture that raw beans have, they are still crisp, but cooked just enough to be no longer squeaky. For hard-boiled eggs, cover eggs with water in a pot. Bring to a boil. When it hits a full rolling boil, turn off heat and let sit a full 12 minutes. Cool and peel and they are perfectly hard-boiled. Serves 4 - 6. 

Dressing:
1 clove garlic
Kosher salt, to taste
⅓ C olive oil
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T Dijon mustard
1 shallot, minced
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salad:
1 lb. small new potatoes, boiled until tender
12 oz. mixed colors baby beets, boiled/roasted until tender, peeled
8 oz. green beans, blanched
12 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
½ C black Niçoise olives
8 small radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
8 salt-packed anchovies, rinsed and drained (omitted)
4 hard-boiled eggs, halved lengthwise
3 (4-oz.) cans oil-packed tuna, drained
1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
½ C loosely packed basil leaves, to garnish
¼ C thinly sliced scallions, to garnish (used chives)

For dressing: Mince garlic on a cutting board and sprinkle heavily with salt; using a knife, scrape garlic and salt together to form a smooth paste. Transfer paste to a bowl and whisk in remaining ingredients; set aside.

For salad: Arrange all ingredients in separate rows on a large serving platter, or on individual plates; drizzle dressing over all ingredients, season with salt and pepper, and garnish with basil and scallions just before serving.

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