Niçoise Salad
The classic French dish Niçoise Salad gets an upgrade with seared fresh tuna and quail eggs. A delicious lunch for any time of the year, especially summer.
Servings: 2 people
Ingredients
For the salad
- 2 medium waxy potatoes washed & cut into 3cm cubes
- 100g green beans trimmed
- 6 quail eggs
- Olive oil
- 150g fresh tuna seasoned
- ½ small red onion thinly sliced
- 12 kalamata olives
- 2 TBS capers
For the dressing
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp honey
- Salt & pepper
- 1 clove garlic minced
Instructions
To make the salad
- Place potatoes into cold salted water and bring to the boil. When potatoes begin to soften (5 to 8 minutes) add the beans. Continue to cook for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until potatoes are just soft and beans are tender crisp. Drain and set aside to cool slightly.
- Fill a bowl with iced water. Bring a small pot of salted water to the boil. Gently lower quail eggs into the water and set a timer for two minutes and twenty seconds exactly. Gently and continuously stir the eggs as they cook, to centre the yolks. When the timer ends, remove eggs from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and place them immediately in the iced water. Leave in the iced water for at least fifteen minutes. This makes the eggs easier to peel. When you're ready to peel the eggs, crack the pointy end. Start peeling from the pointy tip down in a spiral motion un til all shell and membrane is removed.
- Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan/skillet over high heat. Sear tuna for about one minute each side, until just coloured. Remove from heat and set aside to rest.
- Meanwhile, assemble the other salad ingredients on a plate. Slice tuna into 3mm slices and arrange on top of salad.
To make the dressing
- Shake all ingredients together thoroughly in a jar. Check seasoning and adjust if needed. Drizzle dressing over salad and serve immediately.