Tuna Nicoise Salad

• Active Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 pound Red Skinned Potatoes
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt (divided)
• 4 Eggs
• ¹⁄₂ pound Green Beans
• 2 Heirloom Tomatos
• 1 can Canned Albacore Tuna (typically a can is 5 ounces, look for solid white albacore in water or olive oil)
• 1 cup Nicoise Olives
• ¹⁄₂ cup Plain Greek Yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
• 1 Lemon (zeste and juice)
• ¹⁄₂ bunch Tarragon
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon Black Pepper (to taste)
• 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Substitutions

• DAIRY FREE:

  make dressing in the blender but use almond based yogurt or cashew cream. Add 1 ripe avocado. Or, simply use an oil and vinegar style vinaigrette of your preference

• PALEO:

  use sweet potato rounds, roasted squash, or cauliflower florets. Consider doubling the tuna or the egg portion

• TUNA:

  fresh ahi or albacore tuna either seared or poached is a nice way to fancify and put a twist on the dish

• POTATOES:

  baby yukon gold, or larger thin skinned potatoes are ok. If removing them all together, sweet potato rounds will taste great but be untraditional

• FISH:

  if you don’t like tuna, seared halibut, black cod, cod, or even a filet of sole would be nice. Season with salt, pepper, lemon zest, and perhaps a smear of dijon

• NICOISE:

  these olives are obviously named after the dish but they can be hard to find. Kalamata, Castelvetrano, or other olives would all be just fine

• MAYO:

  omit if you don’t like it. Consider substituting sour cream. Or perhaps stir in 1 teaspoon of miso for flavor. Or, put the ingredients in a blender and add 1 avocado

• TARRAGON:

  basil, cilantro, parsley, or chives

• KIDS CORNER:

  kids may prefer the potatoes roasted so they are crispy, just cook with a drizzle of olive oil and salt at 425 until browned and tender inside. The dressing can also be a lot like a ranch dressing - to this recipe add ½ cup of buttermilk or ½ cup of heavy cream or greek yogurt and 1 teaspoon of onion powder and/or dried chives. Let it chill in the fridge for as long as you can to thicken up

Cooking Instructions

• 1POTATOES

  Wash the potatoes and cut them in ½. They should be about 1 - 1.5” inches in diameter and fairly even. If they’re bigger than that, cut them in quarters.

  Place them in a small pot, then cover by 2 inches with cold water. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Turn the heat on high, cover, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to medium and cook potatoes for about 16 minutes. You can keep them partially covered as needed to gently boil during this time.

• 2EGGS

  Place the eggs in another small pot and just barely cover with water. Cover and bring them to a boil over high heat. As soon as it’s boiling, cover tightly and turn off the heat. Set a timer for 13 minutes.

• 3GREEN BEANS

  Trim the woody, stem end of the green beans. Set aside until the potatoes have cooked for the first 16 minutes - and make sure they feel tender but not falling apart. Once that time has passed, add the green beans to the pot. Boil together for 5 minutes. Then drain the pot and run under cold water for 1 minutes. Drain while you finish everything else.

• 4TOMATOES + TUNA

  Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes into wedges.

  Open and drain the can of tuna.

  Slice olives in ½ or not. Be sure they have the pits removed, though.

• 5DRESSING

  In a small bowl, add the yogurt, mayo, dijon, and the zest and juice of the lemon. Whisk to combine. Finely chop most of the tarragon, reserving a few long leaves for garnish. Add it. Add the remaining teaspoon of salt and the black pepper to taste. Whisk in the olive oil.

• 6FINISH

  When the eggs are done, drain the water and run under cold water. Gently crack the shells and let them cool down in the water. When you can handle them, remove the shells. Then slice each egg in half or quarters.

• 7SERVING

  You can either toss everything with dressing in a large bowl or plate the portions evenly and serve the dressing on the side.

  Flake the tuna into large chunks with a fork. We love this salad served warm/room temperature as you’re just cooking it. But, if you’ve prepared the ingredients in advance, it’s also great cold. Do let it sit out for at least 10 minutes though, before serving so nothing is noticeably cold.

  Garnish with tarragon leaves.

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