Salade Niçoise

A beautiful composed platter of this favorite French salad, à la Julia, can take most of the day to compose.  But this much less formal look can be pulled together in about an hour—mostly by combining the prep methods.  Boil cut potatoes and eggs in the same pot and drop in the green beans for the last few minutes.  Whisk the salad dressing while everything cooks, drain the tuna, rinse the capers and chop the tomatoes.  Do we even need a recipe?  For about 4 servings:

• 6-8 small red-skinned potatoes—rinsed and cut
• 4 eggs—hard boiled and sliced
• ¼ lb. trimmed green beans—cooked and cut
• 8 oz. canned solid white tuna in water—drained and separated
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tblsp capers, rinsed (optional)
• 8-12 cured black olives (optional)
• 5-6 cups torn green leaf lettuce
• ½ cup vinaigrette dressing whisked with lemon zest and black pepper to taste

Cook potatoes and eggs, adding green beans for last few minutes.  Drain and chill.  Whisk dressing well—then again before serving.  Arrange lettuce on platter or separate serving plates.  Scatter potatoes, tuna, green beans, tomatoes, and capers and olives if using, over lettuce.  Top with sliced eggs.  Spoon a little dressing over salad and pass the rest. 

The Kitchen Hive