Salad Nicoise

Without the little curlicue on the c. I don't remember what that was called. French class was a couple of decades ago.

I borrowed Bittman's book Food Matters from the library. And found a lot of good recipes. And spent a 3-day weekend writing them all down. Salad Nicoise was one of them.

I love salad. I don't know how I never made something like this. I have Spanish salad recipes, Greek Salad, Taco Salad, and "throw everything in the bowl" salad.

So this morning, as I was wondering what to make for dinner, I thought about that recipe. I dug it out and realized that I could make a reasonable facsimile of it with what I had in the pantry and fridge. So here goes. I made much less dressing than the original recipe and adjusted the ratios. The original recipe called for tomatoes and red onion, which I did not have. I roasted the potatoes instead of boiling.

Salad Nicoise:
Lettuce. Lots of lettuce. A big bowl full of washed and dried lettuce: $1.50
1 lb red potatoes: 1.20
2 Tbsp canola oil: 0.08
1/4 lb frozen green beans: 0.66
2 eggs, hardboiled: 0.25
8 kalamata olives, halved (any kind of olive will do): 0.39
3-4 radishes, sliced: 0.10
salt and pepper

dressing
1.5 Tbsp olive oil: 0.33
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar: 0.15
1 tsp dijon mustard: 0.15
handful of chopped parsley: free. This is from the plant I planted last year.
salt and pepper

Total: $3.31 for enough salad for three people. Though truthfully, we snacked on some chips and salsa too. But there were extra potatoes and green beans for tomorrow's lunch.

Dice the potatoes into 3/4 inch pieces. Toss with 2 Tbsp canola oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 400F until desired doneness, which for us was about 20 min.

Steam the green beans for 3.5 to 4 mins. Drain, run under cold water to cool, dice if not already diced.

Peel and slice the eggs.

Mix the dressing ingredients in the bottom of the salad bowl.

Add radishes, olives, green beans. Put lettuce on top.

When ready to eat, toss the salad. Top with potatoes and egg slices. Add freshly ground black pepper.