Salade Nicoise

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• table salt
• ground black pepper
• 4 large eggs
• 10 small red potatoes, each potato scrubbed and quartered (each about 2-inches in diameter, about 1 1/4 lb. in total)
• table salt
• ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons dry vermouth
• 2 medium boston lettuce (about 8 cups loosely packed) or 2 medium bibb lettuce, leaves washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces (about 8 cups loosely packed)
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna packed in oil, drained
• 3 small tomatoes, vine-ripened, cored and cut into eighths
• 1 small red onion, sliced very thin
• 8 ounces green beans, stem ends trimmed and each bean halved crosswise
• 1/4 cup nicoise olive

Recipe

• 1 for the vinaigrette:.
• 2 whisk lemon juice, oil, shallot, thyme, basil, oregano, and mustard in medium bowl; season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
• 3 for the salad:.
• 4 place eggs in small saucean, cover by 1-inch with cold water, and bring to boil over high heat. remove pan from heat. cover and let stand 10 minutes. meanwhile, fill medium bowl with 1 quart water and 1 tray ice cubes. with slotted spoon, transfer eggs to ice water; let stand 5 minutes. peel eggs and quarter lengthwise; set aside. (reserve ice water).
• 5 meanwhile, bring potatoes and 4 quarts cold water to boil in large dutch oven or stockpot over high heat. add 1 tablespoons salt and cook until potatoes are tender when poked with paring knife, 5-8 minutes. with slotted spoon, gently transfer potatoes to medium bowl (do not discard boiling water). toss warm potatoes with vermouth and salt and pepper to taste; let stand for 1 minute. toss in 1/4 cup vinaigrette; set aside.
• 6 while potatoes cook, toss lettuce with 1/4 cup vinaigrette in large bowl until coated. arrange bed of lettuce on very large flat serving platter. place tuna in now empty bowl and break up with a fork. add 1/2 cup vinaigrette and stir to combine. mound tuna in center of lettuce. toss tomatoes, red onion, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette and salt and pepper to taste in now-empty bowl; arrange tomato-onion mixture in mound at edge of lettuce bed. arrange reserved potatoes in separate mound at edge of lettuce bed.
• 7 return water to boil; add 1 tablespoons salt and green beans. cook until tender but crisp, 3-5 minutes. drain beans, transfer to ice water, and let stand until just cool, about 30 seconds. dry beans well on triple layer of paper towels. toss beans, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette and salt and pepper to taste in now empty bowl; arrange in separate mound at edge of lettuce bed.
• 8 arrange reserved eggs and olives in separate mounds at edge of lettuce bed. drizzle eggs with remaining 2 tbsp dressing. anchovies can be used in a separate mound if wanted, and a sprinkle of capers can be used over the entire salad if wanted.