Asparagus Nicoise Salad Food

ASPARAGUS NICOISE SALAD

Steps:

• Place potatoes in a large saucepan; add water to cover by 2 in. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook, uncovered, until tender, 10-12 minutes, adding asparagus during the last 2-4 minutes of cooking. Drain potatoes and asparagus; immediately drop into ice water. , To serve, drain potatoes and asparagus; pat dry and divide among 4 plates. Add tuna and, if desired, olives. Drizzle with dressing.

CLASSIC NICOISE SALAD

Steps:

• Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan; cover with cold water and season with salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook until fork-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and transfer to a medium bowl; drizzle with the wine and let cool. Reserve the saucepan.
• Meanwhile, bring a separate saucepan of salted water to a boil. Fill a bowl with salted ice water. Add the haricots verts to the boiling water; cook until crisp-tender and bright green, 2 to 4 minutes. Drain and immediately plunge into the ice water to cool; drain and pat dry.
• Place the eggs in the reserved saucepan and cover with cold water by about 1 inch. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then cover, remove from the heat and let stand, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, then run under cold water to cool. Peel under cold running water.
• Make the dressing: Whisk the vinegar, shallot, mustard, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste in a bowl. Whisk in the olive oil in a slow, steady stream until emulsified.
• Toss the tomatoes ian a small bowl with salt and pepper to taste. Add about 1/4 cup dressing to the potatoes and toss. Quarter the hard-cooked eggs.
• Divide the lettuce among 4 plates. Arrange the potatoes, haricots verts, radishes, hard-cooked eggs and tuna on top. Pour any juices from the tomatoes into the dressing, then add the tomatoes to the plates. Drizzle with the dressing and top with the olives.

SALAD NICOISE WITH SEARED TUNA

Steps:

• To make the vinaigrette: combine all ingredients in a mason jar. Screw the cap on the jar and shake the vinaigrette vigorously to emulsify. Set the dressing aside while preparing the salad so the flavors can marry.
• Cooking the potatoes, eggs, and green beans in the same pot cuts down on prep time and clean up. To do this, put the potatoes in a large saucepan, add water to cover and a nice pinch of salt; bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer the potatoes for 12 minutes to give them a head start, and then add the eggs. Place a steamer basket or colander on top of the simmering water. Put the green beans in the steamer and cover with a lid. Steam the beans for 5 minutes until crisp-tender while continuing to cook the potatoes until fork tender. Drain out the water and put the potatoes, eggs, and green beans in a colander; rinse briefly under cold water. Peel the shells off the eggs and cut them in 1/2 lengthwise.
• Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Rub the tuna on all sides with olive oil, and a bit of the vinaigrette; season with a fair amount of salt and pepper. Lay the tuna in the hot pan and sear for approximately 2 minutes on each side; as the tuna cooks, the red meat will become whiter. Transfer the tuna to a cutting board and slice.
• To assemble the salad: combine the potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, olives, anchovies, capers, and chives in a large mixing bowl. Take the vinaigrette and give it another good shake to recombine. Drizzle the salad with enough vinaigrette to fully moisten and toss gently to coat; season with salt and pepper. Take care not to mush up the ingredients - the important thing about salad nicoise is that it is arranged nicely on a platter with all the elements keeping their individual integrity. Put the tossed salad down the center of a serving platter and lay the seared tuna attractively across the top and the eggs around the rim. Drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette and serve.

NICOISE SALAD

Steps:

• Mix the oil and vinegar for the dressing, add salt, pepper and the herbs.
• Toss together carefully, the dressing, beans, eggs (keep one for the garnish), onion, tomatoes, tuna, garlic and half of the olives; add salt and pepper to taste.
• Pile in the center of the serving dish on top of the lettuce leaves, make it look as attractive as possible, finish the salad with the garnish ingredients.

GRILLED SALMON AND ASPARAGUS SALAD

Steps:

• Sprinkle the salmon on both sides with the canola oil, salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Light a grill with a very clean rack and heat it until very hot.
• Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a large skillet and add the asparagus in one layer. Cover, bring to a boil and boil gently for about 3 minutes, until most of the water has evaporated. Drain the asparagus and set it aside, uncovered, so it will cool without discoloring.
• Cut the tomatoes crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. Divide the slices among six plates and, leaving space in the center and around the edge of each plate, arrange the tomatoes in a slightly overlapping circular pattern. Divide the onion rings among the plates and arrange them on top of the tomatoes.
• In a bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients and dribble the dressing over the tomatoes and onions on the plates. (This can be done up to 1 hour ahead.)
• When ready to serve, place the salmon on the grill and cook, covered (if your grill has a lid) for about 2 1/2 minutes on each side, or for about 3 minutes, uncovered, on each side. Transfer the salmon to a serving plate and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before carving. (While resting, it will continue to cook in its own residual heat. It should be somewhat rare in the center.)
• With the asparagus pieces, create a border around the tomatoes and onions. Cut the salmon into 1/2-inch slices and arrange them in the center of the plates. Sprinkle with tarragon and serve immediately.

ANY WAY NIçOISE

Steps:

• Whisk oil, lemon juice, mustard, honey, pepper, and 1 tsp. kosher salt in a medium bowl; set dressing aside.
• Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Carefully add eggs and cook 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water (keep pot over high heat); chill until cold, about 5 minutes. Peel; set aside.
• Meanwhile, add green beans, asparagus, or potatoes to the same pot of boiling water and cook until just tender (if you are using a combination, cook vegetables separately), 2-4 minutes for green beans or asparagus, 10-15 minutes for potatoes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to bowl of ice water; let sit until cold, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels; pat dry.
• To serve, slice eggs in half and arrange on a platter with cooked and raw vegetables and protein. Top with pickled-briny ingredient(s), sprinkle with sea salt, and drizzle some reserved dressing over. Serve with remaining dressing alongside.
• Do Ahead: Dressing can be made 5 days ahead; cover and chill. Eggs can be boiled and vegetables blanched 2 days ahead; cover and chill separately.

SALADE NICOISE WITH VINAIGRETTE DRESSING

Steps:

• Mix dressing together by mixing all ingredients in jar.
• Shake again, just before serving.
• Mix potatoes and mayonnaise to coat thoroughly.
• Toss tomatoes lightly in a small amount of vinaigrette.
• In a separate bowl, toss green beans in a small amount of vinaigrette, let marinate while preparing the rest of the salad.
• When ready to serve, toss lettuce lightly in a small amount of vinaigrette until leaves are barely coated.
• Place around the edge and bottom on the bowl, using all the leaves.
• Place tuna in the center of the bowl.
• Arrange tomatoes, green beans, potatoes around the outside in an interesting pattern.
• Decorate with olives, onion slices, green pepper rounds, celery and eggs.
• Garnish with herbs and anchovies.
• Serve immediately with additional vinaigrette dressing.

ASPARAGUS & TUNA SALAD

Steps:

• Boil the potatoes for 8-12 mins until tender. Drain, cool a little under cold running water, then drain again well and set aside to finish cooling.
• Put the eggs in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. As soon as the water is boiling, add the asparagus for 2 mins. Drain well and rinse everything under cold water to cool. Again drain asparagus well.
• Once cool enough to handle, peel the eggs and halve or quarter. Whisk the dressing ingredients with 1 tbsp water and some seasoning.
• Tip the potatoes, asparagus, tuna, olives and lettuce into a bowl. Drizzle over the dressing and toss well to coat, then add the eggs and serve with crusty bread.

TUNA, ASPARAGUS, AND NEW POTATO SALAD WITH CHIVE VINAIGRETTE AND FRIED CAPERS

Steps:

• For vinaigrette:
• Puree first 5 ingredients in blender until smooth. With machine running, gradually add vegetable oil, then olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
• For salad:
• Cook asparagus in large skillet of boiling salted water until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer asparagus to 13x9x2-inch pan of ice water to cool. Drain asparagus and pat dry. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Wrap in paper towels, then plastic, and chill.
• Place potatoes in large saucepan. Add enough water to cover potatoes by 1 inch. Sprinkle with salt. Bring to boil and cook until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on size of potatoes. Drain; let cool 5 minutes. Place in medium bowl. Add 1/4 cup vinaigrette; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Heat olive oil in small skillet over medium-high heat. Add capers and fry until capers are crisp and open like flowers, stirring often, 45 to 60 seconds. Using slotted spoon, transfer capers to paper towels to drain. DO AHEAD: Potatoes and capers can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
• Place asparagus in large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons vinaigrette and toss to coat. Toss potatoes again to coat, adding 1 more tablespoon vinaigrette if dry. Place greens and radishes in another large bowl. Toss with enough vinaigrette to coat. Spread greens and radishes over large platter. Arrange potatoes, asparagus, eggs, and tuna atop greens. Drizzle some vinaigrette over tuna. Sprinkle with fried capers and chive blossoms, if desired.

SALAD NICOISE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and cool.
• In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, parsley, olives, onion, tuna and green beans. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.
• In large bowl, toss greens with vinaigrette and top with chilled potato mixture. Garnish with eggs, tomatoes, capers and anchovies.