The Salad Nicoise is a gorgeous combination of texture, flavour, and color. Born in Nice, this French dish was introduced to me when I worked as a server. One of my favourite chef buddies made an incredible version of this and true to form, she’s not sharing her secrets with me. I can’t blame her. I have done my best to replicate it from memory. Throwing in my own tastes and preferences along the way to make it my own.
Julia Child also introduced the Salad Nicoise as a famous home chefs staple salad. I am pretty sure my mom made it a few times during my childhood if memory serves correct. Chances are my fussy little pallett didn’t give it a go then. If only I had known what I was missing…
Over the years I have grown extremely fond of this dish. Selfishly because it utilizes all of my lovely urban garden veggies. From string beans and tomatoes, to asparagus and potatoes, this salad is a meal. Not a light little dish but rather a filling, satisfying serving of protein. My husband loves it, as do my clients. It is a mid-day meal that carries you easily through until the dinner bell rings. And fresh. Well you really can’t get fresher in my opinion.
I use Ahi tuna and a fried egg in my version. You can use any tuna you want and hard boil the egg if preferred.. Many people use canned tuna and it is lovely. I just like to kick it up and notch and go raw. Experiment with this recipe. Make it yours. That is what cooking is all about.
1 lb fresh asparagus, trimmed and cleaned (24 stalks)
1/2 lb fresh garden green beans trimmed
16 new potato tri-color mix
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 large shallot sliced thin
1/4 cup nicoise black olives
8 anchovy fillets
1/4 cup large caper berries
1 avocado sliced
1/4 cup black and white sesame seeds
3 tbsp grape seed oil
1/4 cup sunflower micro greens
1 cup fresh sugar snap peas
4 nasturtium flowers
Maldon Salt
Instructions
Dressing:
Using a whisk or a food processor, combine all ingredients except grape seed oil and mix thoroughly. Slowly add the oil to the dressing whisking (or using a food processor) continuously until combined. Set aside.
Salad:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Assemble a large bowl with water and ice cubs to form a water bath.
Slice the potatoes into quarters and place in the boiling water. Cook for 10 minutes until a fork pierces the skin. They should not be “soft” but rather hold a bit of resistance to the tooth. The fork should easily pierce the veg, but the veg should not squish. Remove from boiling water and drop in ice water to stop the cooking process. Remove from water and set aside.
Using some butchers twine, gather the trimmed and cleaned asparagus in bundles of 6 stalks. Cook bundles 2 at a time for 3 minutes. The water should remain boiling even when bundles are added. Remove and immediately submerge into the ice bath to stop the cooking, remove and set aside.
Using the same water add the green beans and cook for 4 – 5 minutes until they have a slight resistance to the tooth. Remove from the water and immediately submerge in the ice bath to stop the cooking. remove, and set aside.
Take the sesame seeds and place in a shallow bowl. Remove the ahi tuna from its package and trim into 4 equal portions. Trim as needed to get clean edges. Coat with salt and pepper. Then press into the sesame seeds on all 4 sides. Using a heavy bottomed skillet, add 2 tbsp of grape seed oil and bring to a high heat. Not quite smoking but hot enough a drop of water will bounce back at you. Place the tuna into the pan and sear each side for 1 minute. Remove from pan and set aside.
Turn down the heat to medium low and fry the quails egg sunny side up. About 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Assemble the salad. In a large bowl, divide all of the ingredients equally among each bowl. Place the tuna on top of the ingredients, and the quails egg on top of the tuna. Drizzle with dressing, and garnish with the flower.
adoptedtomato
