A Winelover's Wanderings

Debrah from Slow Travel picked the recipe for this, our 5th week, and here is what she said:

The recipe below is to serve 2 people but clearly, you can just double it or triple it at will. Anyone who has read recipes I have posted in the past may remember that I am rather loose in my interpretation of recipes but I hope that this fairly straightforward composed salad is easy to make.

Because I couldn’t decide which dressing is my favourite, I am giving two alternatives, one for a more traditional dressing and one for an Asian dressing, which I think goes exceedingly well with the Tuna.

Grilled Tuna Salad Nicoise

Ingredients:

2 Tuna Steaks
2 cups Green Beans or asparagus - whichever is freshest (cut in half for presentation purposes)
2 cups cooked Potatoes (sliced, diced or quartered depending upon size)
12 Olives (use your favorite, or a mixture - obviously, nicoise are the classic)
1 Orange or yellow pepper
2 Green Onions
1 cup Grape or Cherry Tomatoes
1 hard boiled egg (if following classic recipe)

*Optional: spring baby carrots or radishes - scrubbed served whole

Dressing: (should be made up prior to cooking veggies)

Classic: (put all ingredients into a jar, cover and shake)
1/4 cup Red wine vinegar
2 small or one large shallot (minced finely)
4 T. olive oil (or toasted walnut or hazelnut oil)
½ t. anchovy paste (optional)
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 t. whole grain mustard
pinch of thyme

Asian (put all ingredients into a jar, cover and shake)
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
4 T Sesame Oil
Garlic - 2 cloves crushed
Ginger - about 1 tablespoon grated
4 T olive oil

Instructions:

Steam or parboil green beans or asparagus until just tender crisp. Put into ice water to stop cooking process.
Cook small potatoes (fingerlings are an idea) whole. Let cool, cut into shape you desire and pour a small amount of dressing on and chill. I roast or grill the peppers and tomatoes (with a small amount of either dressing tossed on) I like to cook the tomatoes until they release their juice and carmelize a bit. (If you are using really fresh flavourful tomatoes, you don’t need to bother!)

Put tuna steaks on the grill, brush with dressing and cook to your preference.

Plating: I like to present it as a composed salad - so each ingredient is given it’s own space on the plate, including the Tuna. Arrange the two plates, dividing up the vegetables, drizzle with dressing and serve.

*Clearly, you can use any vegetable you desire to finish up your plating. I think that tiny carrots whole and whole radishes add impact and more nutrients to the meal.

Enjoy - isn't it wonderful to look at the bountiful season ahead of us with all these colorful and tasty vegetables!

We had our salad for dinner, and it was wonderful! My Stater Brothers market had fresh tuna steaks, so that made it even better. I prepared the potatoes and hard-boiled eggs ahead, and then we grilled all of the other veggies, along with the tuna.

Our vegetables were green onions, small white onions, red potatoes, small multi-colored peppers (I left them whole to grill, and they turned out great. Also asparagus, large cherry tomatoes, olives, and a some fennel.

And the beautiful finished plate (no dressing yet):