Nicoise Salad!

Nicoise Salad! What a burst of flavor! There are many different flavors and textures and they really come together as a great dish.

This is a fun one to prep in the kitchen, there's several things to do but in the end it's all worth it. Besides, we're all here because we love that very thing! Cooking!

I actually made this salad to serve two for dinner.

Nicoise Salad

6 small red-skinned potatoes, leave whole
Kosher salt
Haricots verts or skinny green beans
2 tablespoons Mayonnaise
Honey
1/2 pound tuna steaks, about 1 inch thick
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Red leaf lettuce, washed, dried and torn into salad pieces
Basil leaves
Small tomatoes, I used 2 Romas, quartered
Nicoise olives or other black olives
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered


Boil the potatoes in salted water until pierced easily with a skewer, about 20 minutes.

Boil the haricots verts in salted water for about 4-5 minutes, just till firm.

Make the dressing.
These 3 items can rest aside until you are ready to finish the salad. You hard-boiled your eggs right?

Season the tuna steaks with salt and pepper. Grill the tuna over medium heat, about 2 minutes per side for 1" thick tuna. This is medium to medium rare. Let rest on a cutting board for at least 5 minutes. Then cut into 1/4" strips.


Cut the potatoes in half and toss them with 2T of mayonnaise and 2t of dijon mustard. Give them a sprinkling of kosher salt. Grill the potatoes until grill marks form on them, over medium heat, about 2 minutes per side.


Toss your lettuce and julienned basil. Lay onto your platter and arrange the other ingredients around. If you prefer you may prep your salads with all ingredients at this point and serve, but I liked giving us the opportunity to select our items and add as needed. I have to say, this dinner had only a couple of potato halves as leftovers which were yummy nice and cold with a lunch the next day.


Vinaigrette Dressing:

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons basil, finely chopped


Whisk all ingredients together and add basil just before serving.