Salad Nicoise

Do you ever just feel like you want to have something different for dinner than the usual stand bys? I can tell you I've been feeling like that a lot lately. Just craving something different. Most of the time I'm not sure "what different" exactly but just something we don't usually have is what I want. 

And on this occasion that's exactly how I was feeling. We just recently started a subscription to Saveur Magazine and in our first issue there was this recipe for salad nicoise that looked exactly like what I was wanting: a meal we never have.

And it perfectly met my craving. We actually purchased a beautiful piece of yellowfin tuna for this salad initially but ended up using the yellowfin to make poke instead. So when we finally did get around to making this delicious salad we used some canned Wild Albacore Tuna made by Wild Planet that we buy at Costco and love. We started eating it a lot when we starting following Paleo. And just love the quality of this canned tuna.

Also by the time we got around to make the salad the green beans we purchased had went bad so we subbed out little white potatoes.

The salad was so good. The combination  of all the veggies with the brininess of the olives and the vinaigrette really made for a well balanced bite each time. We served the salad with a bottle of C.R. Sandich Viognier that we picked up on our Chelan vacation this summer. It paired wonderfully.

It was simple to put together and really met my desire to just have something different for dinner.

Recipe:

Salade Nicoise adapted from Saveur Magazine

FOR THE DRESSING:

1 clove garlic
Kosher salt, to taste
⅓ cup olive oil
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 shallot, minced
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

FOR THE SALAD:
1 lb. small new potatoes, boiled until tender
6 oz. yellow baby beets, boiled until tender, peeled
6 oz. red baby beets, boiled until tender, peeled
8 oz. haricot verts, blanched
12 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup black Niçoise olives
8 small radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
8 salt-packed anchovies, rinsed and drained
4 hard-boiled eggs, halved lengthwise
3 (4-oz.) cans high-quality oil-packed tuna, drained
1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
½ cup loosely packed basil leaves, to garnish
¼ cup thinly sliced scallions, to garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the 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 oil, juice, mustard, shallot, and salt and pepper; set aside.

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