[Music]
Bonjour my friends, I’m Frankie and welcome to Club Foody! When I daydream, I
imagine walking on the streets in one of those cities on the French Riviera.
I see a cute café and decide to have lunch – of course a song from Joe Dassin is playing
in the background. Then I order a glass of Rosé and something delicious and light to
pair it with like this recipe…
In today’s episode, I’ll show you how to make my version of Salade Niçoise!
This is exactly what summer is all about; fresh and healthy with layers of yumminess!
This classic French salad is so incredible! Each bite is a burst of flavor in your month…
you’ll see what I mean when you try it! So my friends, let’s get cooking!
There are a few steps to take care of so let’s start with the eggs. A couple hours before
serving the salad, we’ll boil them – I like mine hard boiled but if you prefer medium
boiled, cook them accordingly. When they’re done, we’ll plunge them in an ice water
bath and set aside. Another thing we have to look after is the vinaigrette. In a small
bowl, we’ll add pressed garlic, freshly squeezed lemon juice, raspberry wine vinegar
but traditionally red wine vinegar is used so either one, some Dijon mustard,
Herbes de Provence which you can get this lovely homemade blend by clicking on the top right
corner of your screen, and freshly ground black pepper. Next, in a slow steady stream,
we’ll add the oil whisking constantly. Here are a few anchovy filets and we’ll take one,
reserving the other two for later. Then we’ll chop the filet as fine as we can – we
want tiny little pieces… see, just like that because they’re going into the vinaigrette.
By adding them, it will give a beautiful flavor to the dressing. Of course, we’ll whisk
again then taste and adjust if necessary – I like to add a little honey to it just to remove
the tartness. We’ll cover and transfer to the fridge for 1 ½ hours. An hour before
serving, we’ll prep the other ingredients. Let’s start with the baby potatoes… We’ll
place them in a medium pot, fill it up with cold water and add some salt to it.
We'll cover, bring it to a boil and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until just tender so they
keep their shape… we want a slight resistance, that’s all – mine were perfect after 10.
So we’ll remove from the heat and drain the potatoes in a colander. We’ll let them
sit for a few minutes before cutting them in half. Now the green beans… So what we’ll
do is to cut them in thirds so not only does it look nicer but it’s easier to eat…
just like that. We’ll fill up a pot with water, add a little bit of sea salt and bring
it to a boil. When it gets there, we’ll add our green beans and start the timer for
2 minutes to blanch them quickly. We’ll remove from the heat, plunge the green beans
in an ice water bath to stop the cooking and let them sit there for a few minutes to cool off.
Now, we’ll look after the red onion. After slicing it, we’ll place them in a
bowl and pour 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and then add about half of a 1/3
of a cup of cold water. With our clean hands, we’ll toss to coat, add the rest of the
water and let the slices marinate for 5 minutes then drain. What it does is it removes the
sharp taste from the onion – it’s a great kitchen tip especially when serving them raw.
Back to our 2 anchovy filets… We’ll cut them into ¼-inch pieces - see, they’re
small but not as much as earlier when making the dressing – and set them aside. All right,
let’ see what we’ve got… Some capers, anchovies, olives either niçoise, Kalamata
or black then thinly sliced cucumber, some red and yellow peppers although it’s not
traditional but hey, since when have I stuck to traditional?, our red onion slices that we
did earlier, cherry tomatoes – they’re good for us –, our potatoes cut in half
and also our blanched green beans, the main protein… tuna – I love tuna in this salad!
– then sliced hard boiled eggs and lettuce. So let’s assemble this incredible salad
although there’s no set rule how to… Lettuce on the plate first – here I’m using Boston
-, cucumber slices, potato halves – I know it’s not a usual ingredient for a green
salad but trust me, it’s good -, cherry tomatoes straight from my garden – mmm, yum! -,
green beans – see by blanching them, they really turn green – then here comes
the red onion slices followed by the bell peppers – you don’t have to but I think
they add a nice color -, little chunks of tuna – it looks more appetizing than flakes, okay -,
sliced hard boiled eggs, some capers on top, olives – I’m using black because
I couldn’t find the niçoise -, and finally little pieces of anchovies. We’ll drizzle
on some vinaigrette on top and serve immediately…
And my friends, this is our Salade Niçoise! I know there are a lot of steps but the combination
is exactly what summer is all about; fresh and healthy with layers of yumminess! This
is a salad that you must have and I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes your favorite for the season...
I hope you give it a try soon and be sure to visit clubfoody.com for ingredient amounts,
directions and more info… Until next time my friends, bon appétit!
[Music]