Meal-sized salads are great for summer dinners. One of my favorites is the salade nicoise, a lettuce-free salad of colorful vegetables and some kind of canned or cured fish. It is savory, salty and filling. To adapt it to a 5:30 Challenge recipe, though, it needs to be pared down to the essentials.
To keep the dish in hearty, meal-sized territory, I use a generous amount of potatoes and green beans. Select the smallest potatoes you can find (look for bags labeled “mini” or “peewee”); they don’t require peeling or chopping and will cook in boiling water in about 10 minutes. Add the green beans to the pot when the potatoes are almost done. The beans only need a few minutes to turn tender, at which point you should be able to pierce the potatoes with a fork.
For the fish, I prefer to use cold-smoked salmon. Besides adding a briny component to the salad, it brings color and creamy texture — and doesn’t need much more than a crank of pepper and drizzle of dressing to taste its best. I’m partial to a basic herb vinaigrette made from olive oil, red wine vinegar and chopped fresh tarragon. The licorice notes of tarragon pair beautifully with the salmon, but if you’d prefer something more neutral, parsley will suffice.
Traditionally, salade nicoise is served in a “composed” style, meaning that each ingredient is dressed separately, and it’s up to the diner to mix everything together. But make it easy on yourself: toss all the vegetables in the dressing, then top with the salmon. There’s no need to get any fancier.
Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
About the Author
