Salade Nicoise

So I'm back in the blogosphere, and perhaps I'll stick around this time. My goal with The Pumpkin Patch is to photograph and otherwise chronicle recipes, clothing, craft projects, restaurant recommendations, books I read, and other things of interest in my life. Hopefully another person or two can benefit from the posts.

To start off, I thought I'd post the recipe for Salade Nicoise, which I made myself for dinner a few nights ago. (For those out there like me who do not speak French and have been terrified of ordering this dish in a restaurant for said reason, Nicoise is pronounced "nee-SWAHZ" or something like that.) The recipe below is adapted from one on Simply Recipes to fit my own tastes.

Salade Nicoise - for 1 large entree sized salad or 2 smaller salads

Ingredients:

Salad

Butterhead lettuce (i.e. Boston Bibb)

2 hard boiled eggs

3-4 Yukon gold creamer potatoes

8-10 cherry tomatoes

1 cup green beans (fresh or frozen)

1 can (6 oz) tuna (or if you aren't as lazy, a tuna filet)

1/2 cup olives (I used garlic-stuffed green olives here)

Salt, pepper

Olive oil
Garlic (optional)

Dressing

1/2 tsp brown/dijon mustard

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Dried basil and oregano to taste

1. To make vinaigrette, whisk all ingredients together in a glass measuring cup. Set aside.

2. Scrub and quarter potatoes (no need to peel) and bring to a boil in a quart of salted water. Boil uncovered for 7-10 minutes or until they're the texture you like. Drain and top with salt and pepper.

3. Sautee green beans in a small amount of olive oil and garlic, if you like. I use Trader Joe's frozen green beans and they are delicious.

4. Peel and quarter hard boiled eggs. (See this SimplyRecipes link for the perfect hard-boiled egg.)

5. Halve cherry tomatoes and olives.

6. Assemble salad! Place your washed and cut bibb lettuce on a platter, drizzle dressing over lettuce. Then arrange eggs, tomatoes, olives, green beans, and potatoes. Top with the can of tuna. I like to add a touch of salt and pepper to the tuna fish.

Enjoy!