French Classic tuna niçoise salad
This has to be one of my favourite classics from my childhood. My grand parents lived in Nice and I have heaps of happy memories there…For some of you this may seem like a lot of ingredients to buy and prep but the beauty of this is that it is a perfect salad to make ahead in the summer to accompany a BBQ and the ideal meal to make once ( base) and eat 3 times for lunch with different protein on top. Perfect balance of mediterranean flavours, healthy plant diversity and healthy fats.
ingredients
serves 4
4 ripe vine tomatoes (quartered)
1 green bell pepper (seeded and cut into strips)
8 radishes (trimmed and thinly sliced )
1/2 cucumber (peeled and thinly sliced )
8 tinned anchovies
Large handful pitted Niçoise or Kalamata black olives
10 fresh basil leaves (shredded)
2 romaine hearts, (bottoms trimmed and separated into leaves)
8 new or small potatoes (boiled until tender and cooled)
200g green beans (blanched or steamed and cooled)
Chargrilled artichoke hearts
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
To top, choice of:
4 hardboiled eggs (peeled and cut in half)
300g canned tuna or 4 tuna steak (pan seared)
Grilled chicken breast or thigh fillet
200g feta cheese
method
Prep time: 10mins
Start by steaming / blanching green beans, set aside to cool
At the same time, boil the potatoes, set aside to cool
Boil the eggs, cool, peel and set aside
In the meantime, prep the romaine , slice the tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, radishes
Assemble starting with romaine, and finishing with eggs, anchovies and protein of choice
Generous drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper
the health boost tip
Perfect summer lunch prepped ahead. Can also be chopped and served inside a flatbread or in a wrap.
We advise to not have tuna too often due to its potentially high mercury content.
