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Salade Nicoise
This is a somewhat labor-intensive salad that might drive you batty if you make it in a hot kitchen on a hot day and are an impatient person, but I promise it's well worth the trouble when it's done. Here's the excellent version Abigail found online but never got around to really making (I highlighted the ingredients because there are so many and it's so difficult to keep track of them):
While potatoes and eggs are boiling (see below), make the vinaigrette: Whisk together 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 1 medium-large minced shallot, 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves, 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves, 2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano leaves, and 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
Boil 10 new red potatoes till just soft. Quarter them while hot and toss with 2 tablespoons dry vermouth and salt and pepper to taste. After 1 minute, toss them in 1/2 cup dressing and set aside.
Hard-boil 4 eggs by setting them into boiling water for 12 minutes. Rinse in cold water, crack each one against the side of the sink and peel under running cold water. Quarter them lengthwise, and set aside.
Steam 1/2 lb. green beans until cooked but still crisp, about 4 minutes. Plunge into ice water for 30 seconds, remove and dry well. Cut each one lengthwise in half. Toss with 3 tablespoons vinaigrette.
Core 3 small, perfectly ripe tomatoes and cut them into eighths. Thinly slice 1 small red onion.
You will also need 2 6-ounce cans or 3 4-ounce cans olive oil-packed tuna, 1/4 cup briny, black, wrinkled Nicoise olives, 10-12 anchovy filets, and 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed.
Wash and dry and tear into pieces 2 medium heads Boston or Bibb lettuce. Toss the lettuce with 1/4 cup vinaigrette till coated. Arrange on a large, flat serving platter. Break up tuna with fork and mix with 1/2 cup vinaigrette, then place in a mound in the middle of the lettuce. Toss tomatoes and onions together with 3 tablespoons vinaigrette and mound next to tuna. Arrange potatoes and beans at edges of lettuce bed. Arrange eggs, olives, and anchovies likewise. Drizzle eggs with remaining 2 tablespoons dressing, sprinkle entire salad with capers, and serve.
Serves 4.
Chapter Twelve
Abigail found her recipes and looked them over: cantaloupe soup, salade Nicoise. Boil the little red potatoes, blanch the green beans, hard-boil four eggs. Jar of anchovies...had she forgotten that? No, there it was. Cantaloupe...
When the doorman called to say that Samantha was on her way up, Abigail had managed to cut the cantaloupe in half and get the scrubbed potatoes in some simmering water. She wiped her brow with the back of her hand and went to the door.
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