Perfect salad nicoise is pure magic

I make salad nicoise a lot. I mean a lot. And I’ve never made it the same way twice. Sometimes, I do it very traditionally and pared down, with just greens, potatoes, green beans, olives and tuna. Other times, I’ll make a salad nicoise with a twist, and change out the olives for capers and the tuna for salmon.

This time, though, I made the perfect salad nicoise, and I can guarantee I’ll be making this one more than twice. It’s hard to tell exactly where the magic lies, since it’s not that different from other salad nicoises that I’ve made. It could be the fresh herbs in the dressing, or maybe the fact that I used canned tuna instead of a fancy hunk of grilled fish. There were little bites of fish in every mouthful and I loved getting that flavor throughout. It might also be that I generously sprinkled the whole she-bang with feta cheese.

Whatever the secret may be, this one’s worth trying, then tucking away in a super safe place, because you’re going to want to make it again — trust me.

Perfect Salad Nicoise
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Ingredients:

• about 8 cups mixed greens (I used romaine and mesclun mix)
• about 5 red potatoes, chopped into 1-2 inch cubes and boiled until done
• about 5 cups of green beans, lightly steamed
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 cans tongol tuna, crumbled
• 1 red onion, chopped and microwaved for 2 minutes to take the edge off
• Kalamata olives to taste
• feta cheese crumbles to taste

For dressing:

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1.5 teaspoons stone ground mustard
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage and thyme
• 1 clove garlic, minced and microwaved for 1 minute to take the edge off

Whisk together dressing ingredients and toss all ingredients together with the dressing.

This recipe was — dare I say it — even better the next day. The flavors melded together magically overnight, when usually leftover salad is wilted and gross, this was still … perfect.

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jul 28, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT