Spring Niçoise Salad
Well, since spring has “officially” arrived, I’m gonna pretend that the worst of winter is behind us, and delve headfirst towards more “Springy” things. Namely this salad featured on finecooking.com
I’m not going to lie and say this is the kind of salad you just slap together. You pre-cook artichokes, beets, and potatoes separate from each other, boil up some eggs, sear some tuna, and finally lay it out on a bed of greens. The recipe indicates arugula, but I went with a spring mix, as I like the “bite” in this salad to be from the vinaigrette. That being said, I did get a bunch of watercress, and added a handful of the leaves to my greens. Peppery! Fresh! Fun!
I also tweaked the vinaigrette a bit (completely, really). I used the leftover juices from roasting the beets, as well as the herbed oil from the roasted potatoes. Of course, in using the beet juices it does make your salad resemble a massacre a la ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’, but it is more than a bit refreshing to see a clash of colours on the plate before me.
Yes, it would’ve been just as easy to just set my sights on cooking a full meal rather than putting all my time, energy and efforts into salad toppings, but honestly, I think the lengthening days deserve a bit of an homage. Time to start retiring the squashes, soups, and carb-heavy meals, and move boldly towards summer. Is that a patio with a gin and tonic calling me…?
