Salade Nicoise with Grilled Salmon
Serves 4
This is my BC version of a classic French composed salad, based on the salad we had in a little town called Castelnaudary, not far from Toulouse.
Ingredients:
- 500 grams boneless salmon fillet, or boneless tuna fillet
- 8 cups salad greens
- 1 Belgian endive, separated into individual leaves.
- 2 ripe tomatoes, cut into 4 wedges each
- ½ cup mild green olives
- 8 flat fillets of anchovy
- ½ pound green beans, trimmed
- ½ English cucumber, sliced
For the Vinaigrette:
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp. red or white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
Make the vinaigrette by whisking together the garlic, vinegar and mustard, then adding the olive oil slowly until the mixture emulsifies. Toss the salad greens with the vinaigrette just before serving.
Lightly oil the salmon and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill or broil over medium heat until medium rare. Cut into 4 equal portions. (you can use canned tuna or salmon instead of fresh salmon)
Boil the green beans in salted water under tender-crisp, drain, then plunge into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process and preserve the colour.
On each plate, mound some of the salad greens. Around the greens, arrange the Belgian endive leaves, tomatoes and cucumber slices. Top the salad greens with two anchovy slices, some green olives, the green beans, and finally, the grilled tuna. Enjoy!
Salade Lyonnaise
Serves 4
This is my version of a salad I’ve enjoyed on all of my trips to France.
Ingredients:
- 400 grams of slab bacon (use sliced bacon chopped into large pieces if you can’t get slab bacon)
- 4 cups bread cut into 1 inch cubes for croutons
- 8 cups curly endive, or mixed salad greens
- 4 eggs
For the Vinaigrette:
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp. red or white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
Dice the slab bacon into ¾ inch cubes. (lardons) Fry over medium heat in a non-stick pan until just crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the bread cubes into the pan and toss to coat with the bacon fat, cooking and stirring until crisped. Remove and set aside.
Make the vinaigrette by whisking together the garlic, vinegar and mustard, then adding the olive oil slowly until the mixture emulsifies.
You can either poach the eggs or fry them sunny side up…the idea is to have a runny yolk.
In a large bowl, toss the salad greens with the vinaigrette. Mound some salad on each plate, and top with the lardons, croutons, and finally the egg.
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