A chunky salad of fresh summer vegetables. Avoid making this dish out of season, as your ingredients won't be at their best and really, who needs that?
Imagine one bite of the perfect salad nicoise. What ratio of ingredients would it have? Hold this idea in your mind as you chop the vegetables. No one ingredient should be in sufficient quantity that it would over power the others. Chop everything to the size that will create that ideal bite. What ideal means is up to you and your combination of ingredients. Depending on what you decide, the nature of the salad can be pulled one way or the other.
Serves 4
4
gorgeous, vine ripened, bright red, juicy tomatoes1/2
red onion, sliced1
red bell pepper, sliced8
radishes, halved2
ribs celery, sliced1
lettuce head, washed and separated6-8
oz of good quality chunky canned tuna2
hard boiled eggs8
anchovy fillets8
black olives- parsley, rough chopped
- basil, torn or rough chopped
- baby potatoes
- artichokes
- green beans
2
tbsp red wine vinegar1/3
cup extra virgin olive oil- Sea salt and black pepper
Chop the tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, radish and celery into pieces of appropriate size.
Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar, put the lid on and shake to combine.
Line a large salad bowl with the lettuce. Sprinkle some salt and pepper onto the leaves. Top with the chopped vegetables, lightly mixed. Break the tuna into bite sized chunks and drop them on top of the vegetables. Now is a good time to season again with salt and pepper. Drop on the eggs, anchovies and black olives. Top with herbs, drizzle with dressing and serve.
To make a classic sandwich "Pan Bagnat", get four large bread rolls and slice them in half. Hollow out some of the bread from each half to allow for a small mountain of filling.
Brush the insides of the rolls with dressing. Build the salad up on one half of each roll, the same way as you would in the salad bowl, ending with the herbs.
Season with salt, drizzle a little more dressing on the salad and then cap with the top of each roll.
Now wrap the rolls in aluminum foil, weigh them down lightly with a plate and let sit in a cool place for an hour. During this time the bread will soak up some of the juices that are released and the whole thing will be delicious.